


Shiota-Sensei's Secret?

by RandomdudeNo123



Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: Gen, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:40:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 25,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27755488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandomdudeNo123/pseuds/RandomdudeNo123
Summary: Professor Shiota doesn't act like any normal teacher. Two of his students, curious about this, begin a mission to uncover what secrets Shiota-Sensei might be hiding. Along the way, they deal with old faces and new troubles, all while keeping Shiota-Sensei from finding out about their investigation!(The character tag list isn't complete; I'll add to it as the chapters go on.)
Comments: 40
Kudos: 135





	1. A Rough Start

Sunlight shone through the windows of the bustling classroom, falling on a classroom of dull-eyed students. Homeroom had finally brought an end to the endless hours of the school day, and almost everyone was eager to head back home. Their weariness was intensified by the final lesson of the day, an especially brutal task. Their last professor, a man by the name of Nagisa Shiota, had just drilled them on foreign literature for the past three hours in preparation for their midterms. 

Amongst the weary crowd, one student remained curiously lively. The student wasn't a standout in Paradise High, which made his contrast to the rest of Shiota-Sensei’s class even more surprising. Thick-rimmed glasses, neatly organized hair, and a full uniform made him look like your stereotypical nerd, the type that would willingly take extra schoolwork just for fun. Dangling around his neck was a nametag,  _ Satoshi Watanabe _ written in bold script. "Trust me, Yuki! Shiota-Sensei is hiding something, I'm 98% sure of it!" How this nerdy guy had fallen in with a class of delinquents, none could explain.

His seatmate, on the other hand, was a perfect fit for the delinquent class. Dyed hair, leather jacket, and a sharp glare all contributed to the rulebreaker look. Rolling her eyes, she jammed her textbooks back into her bag, snapping several pencils and rulers with one brusque motion. Stuffed into a pocket was another nametag,  _ Tsuji Yuki _ printed on it."You always say that. Yesterday, you were 100% sure the school faculty were secretly hoarding your favourite juice. The day before, you said the superbeing incident was just a government plot to drive up sushi sales. Just give it up, Watanabe. It's likely nothing."

Watanabe was not convinced. “But this time, I’m certain! I mean, just look at how well he speaks English! He must have gotten some kind of special training just for that! And remember how he never talks about his past! All teachers love talking about their past, Yuki! He's hiding something, I know it!" 

Suppressing a long-suffering sigh, Yuki hefted the bag over her shoulder. Best to just let him explain the whole thing now, rather than inflicting it on herself for an indeterminate amount of time. "Fine, fine. What do you think Shiota-Sensei’s up to?”

“Well… I don’t know.” Watanabe hadn't thought that far ahead. To him, the prospect of a secret existing was far more interesting than what the secret was about. His mind rushed through the possibilities:  _ Government agent? Secret spy? He could be anything! _ "I just know he’s hiding something. And it’s up to us to find out!”

Shaking her head, Yuki walked off. “Count me out. I’m not getting tangled up in another one of your crazy conspiracy theories.” 

Watanabe sighed. He really hoped it wouldn't have come to this. Resigning himself to his fate, Watanabe played his final trump card. “I’ll do your homework for two weeks-”

“Deal.”

* * *

Flickering city lights constantly brought the cityscape between light and dark. Night had just settled itself on the city, shadows growing within the twisted back alleys of their city. Keeping her guard up, Yuki walked underneath the pale glow of neon signs. She knew this place well. While not the most dangerous part of the city, it was still not a place she wanted to linger in long. Keeping her voice lowered, she muttered to her companion. “Remind me why we're here?”

Unfortunately for her, Watanabe had a terrible survival instinct and even poorer street smarts. Speaking in an overly proud tone, he kept his eyes fixed on his Phone's map. "Shiota-Sensei takes a specific bus route home everyday. Calculating the amount of bus stops on the route, the density of passengers, and time constraints concluded that this was the likeliest place for him to be!"

For some inexplicable reason, it didn't seem quite right that their calm, erudite professor spent his free time running this lawless back alley. Raising an eyebrow, Yuki shook her head. “You sure? Because this place seems pretty dangerous. Are you sure Shiota-Sensei hangs around here?”

“Huh. Let me… oh.” Watanabe’s face turned pale as he stared down at his GPS. “We… may have taken a wrong turn, several streets back.”

“What?! Give me that!” Yuki snatched his phone away, proving once and for all that Watanabe was the best victim a thief could ever hope for. Muterring, Yuki tried to get a sense of their bearings from the map. They had stopped in front of an auto-repair shop in the middle of a dead-end alley, so they were definitely not on the right path.

Before Watanabe could start yelling, a voice called from the alley's entrance. "Hey, hey, hey. What's a couple of kids like you doin' all the way out here?" One look at him was all it took to get Watanabe nervous. Garish tattoos, leery eyes, and a terrible haircut were all flashing warning signs at him.

"What's it to you?" Yuki snapped back, scowling back. She didn't like him either, though she was much keener on giving his face a pounding than avoiding one herself. 

"Well, to put it bluntly, this is our turf. We don't want little kids running about on our streets, got that?" The man's tone carried a hint of malice, like a hidden blade soon to be drawn. Yuki's fists had curled up into balls in response, her scowl morphing into a snarl.

"G-got it. C'mon, Yuki, let's leave the g-gentleman alone." Watanabe muttered, awkwardly trying to shuffle past. 

"Tch. If this guy wants a fight, then he's getting one!" Itching for a fight, Yuki rushed headlong at her opponent. "C'mon, let's see you-" 

_ Smack! _

Yuki was flung sideways, crashing onto the rough floor. Despite her bravado, a grade-schooler was still no match for a college student in a head on fight. Watanabe stumbled back, then balled his fists in desperation. What little courage he had was gone now, but he couldn't just abandon his friend!  _ I have to get both of us out of here... But how?! _

Suddenly, a bright light flashed from the motor shop. Standing in it's doorway was a grim man, tall and stern. His hair was fashioned into dreadlocks, and he wore a stained jumpsuit. "Hey! You want to fight, you do it someplace else! This place isn’t your playground, you know?” Caught unawares by the blinding light, the thug stumbled back. He had only terrorized these two for easy sport. Fighting a full grown man was out of the question for him. With an insulting hand gesture, he stumbled, then fled in panic.

“T-Thanks… Mister… uh…” Stunned by his sudden salvation, the words left Watanabe's throat. 

The mechanic made no sudden motion, save for the crossing of his arms. “Yoshida. Taisei Yoshida." With a quick tilt of his head, he turned his attention to the fallen student. "Your friend's gonna be alright?"

“Y...yeah. I’ll be fine. It’s gonna take more than a knock on the head to put me down.” Dazed, Yuki unsteadily got up to her feet. She got taken off guard with one quick blow to the head, but was otherwise unharmed. "He got a lucky shot. I'd better return the favour."

“Hmph. You’d better sit down for a bit before trying anything. Come inside, it's not safe to linger." Yoshida headed back inside, gesturing for them to follow. “What are you waiting for? It’s a parts shop, not a death trap.”

* * *

If there was one good word to describe the garage, it would have been disarray. Steel pipes, engine chains, and other mechanical parts were scattered all throughout the garage, the clutter surrounding an engine in the dead center of the room. Off in a corner of the room, a table had been littered with take-out ramen of a brand Watanabe didn't recognize. Sweeping the empty cartons into a nearby westering, Yoshida set a pitcher of water and some cups in front of them. Picking up a wrench, the mechanic turned to his engine. "I'll just finish this up. You two stay right there."

Watanabe watched him work in silence. The mechanic work was dull, but still far more entertaining than staring at the drab-gray walls. Suddenly, a flash of green caught his eye. Hanging off Yoshida's toolbelt alongside all the rusted equipment was a green army knife, letters printed on it in bold white.  _ S.A.A.U.S.O? Where have I heard that acronym before? _ Watanabe took another sip of water from his cup. The adrenalin still hadn't worn off completely, and his thoughts were foggy. Yuki wasn’t faring much better either. Suddenly, it occurred to Watanabe that he should probably thank the mechanic for saving him from a beating. "Thanks for intervening, Mister Yoshida.”

“It’s no big deal.” Yoshida shrugged, wrenching another bolt back into place. "Truth be told, I don’t usually bother with the gangs around here. They’re more trouble than they’re worth, honestly. I only stepped in because of your uniforms.”

“Uniforms…? You mean the Paradise High Uniforms?” Watanabe tugged at the hem of his black school blazer. Grateful as he was for the rescue, he still couldn’t help but wonder at the significance of it.

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Yoshida headed over to the table, dropping the wrench into a nearby toolbox. Taking a massive gulp of water, he fixed his eyes on Watanabe. "Yeah. I’ve got an old friend who teaches there. Maybe you know him?”

Yuki raised an eyebrow. “Maybe we do… What does he look like?”

With a small frown on his face, the mechanic stroked his chin. “He’s short, quiet… Looks a bit like a girl.” 

Annoyed, the delinquent crossed her arms. “Could you tell us a name?!”

“Oh, right. Nagisa. Nagisa Shiota.”

Watanabe blinked in shock. They had found one of Shiota-Sensei's old friends, and here of all places! His wonder could not be expressed. Yuki evidently did not share the same wonder. With a shrug, she confirmed it. “Oh, yeah. He’s our advisor, believe it or not." 

"Your advisor, huh? Well, good for him… And you two, I guess." A contemplative look passed through the mechanic. "So, what's he like?"

For a brief moment, Watanabe considered the possibility of the man lying. Not likely; Yoshida had mentioned Shiota-Sensei's name first, so he couldn't have been trying to trick them. "Well… He's really patient. He doesn't mind repeating lessons over and over to make sure we understand. He's also secretive about his past. We really don't know him at all." 

Yuki shook her head. "Don't listen to him, he was absent on the first day. Shiota's real scary. Back on the first day, some tough guys tried to test him out, see what kind of guy he was. He just freaking knocked out the ringleader, just like that. Ever since then, everyone's just kept quiet."

Much to their surprise, a nostalgic grin crept over Yoshida's face. "Trust me, it’s going to take more than kids like you to faze him."

A sudden memory flashed though Watanabe’s mind. “Oh! Yuki, remember that time you tried to surprise him?" 

The troublemaker frowned, a hint of fear passing through her. "Yeah. Once, I tried to fling a paper ball at him while he was writing on the board. Without even turning around, he just knocked it out of the air with his clipboard." Yuki shivered, remembering the way he casually swatted her attack away. The unnerving smile on his face when he told her to try again next time, like he had expected her attack somehow. "Actually, Watanabe thinks he's got some sort of dark secret, something that's giving him all these crazy powers."

“Hm. Well, he's certainly the type of guy to keep secrets." A glimpse of realization was quickly stifled within the mechanic's face. "Actually… Huh. I guess he wouldn't want to mention  _ that _ .

“Huh? What wouldn't he want us to know?" Yuki stared Yoshida down, a newfound curiosity surging.  _ Could Watanabe be right for once? _

“Nothing you need to worry about.” Yoshida looked regretful for even bringing up the topic in the first place. Opening the door, he motioned for both of them to leave. “I’m about to close up shop here, so unless you two are planning to stay the night, I’d suggest going home right now. Wouldn’t want to get attacked again, right?” Neither Watanabe nor Yuki moved from their seats. Sighing, Yoshida fixed his stare upon them. "Look, your professor and I aren’t the closest of people. It’s not my place to spill his secrets, whether I’d like to or not.”

Yuki nodded, speaking in a low tone of voice. “We understand, sir. Come on, Watanabe, we’re leaving.”

“But-”

“Leaving!”

* * *

The bright lighting of the bus was a welcome sight. Settling herself into the bus seat, Yuki breathed a sigh of relief. Their retreat from the twisting back alleys was quick and uneventful. Right beside her, Watanabe was fuming silently to himself. “Why did you do that?! We could have found out Shiota-Sensei’s secret right there!”

“He wouldn’t have said any more. We just met him, after all.” Yuki rubbed the bump on her head carefully.  _ That's gonna start hurting in the morning _ . "Plus, I don’t want to get hit on the head again.”

“Oh, right… Are you going to be fine?" The investigator's head hung down low. Yuki could probably guess why.  _ Poor guy probably blames himself for the whole mess at the alleyway.  _

Slapping him on the back, Yuki gave him a thumbs up. "Tch, do you even need to ask? It's gonna take much more than that to put me down for good!" That wasn't a lie. She'd been in plenty of scraps already, so getting knocked down in a fight wasn't a big deal for her.

"I guess…" A guilty expression played on Watanabe's face. "If you want to go, it's fine. I'm sure I can find out Shiota-Sensei's secret myself."

"Heh, you kidding? This secret thing's the most exciting thing to happen this entire school year. We're getting to the bottom of this, you hear?" Yuki couldn't help but grin excitedly. Originally, she hadn't thought much about this latest conspiracy theory. But the mechanic's sudden behavior made her think differently.  _ Maybe, just this once, he's onto something... _

"A… Alright." He muttered, slightly more confidently.

Yuki shot a serious look at him. "You're still going to do all my homework for two weeks."

"Fine…" The nerd sighed, an exasperated look on his face.

"Plus one extra for the bump on my head."

"Fineee…"

"And a free soda. Extra large."

"HEY!"


	2. Noodle Time? Revelations at the Ramen shop!

Blades of grass grew throughout the sidewalk, gradually cracking the pavement and overtaking it. The sounds of the city were curiously stifled from here, Yuki noted. She was loitering around a rustic bus stop on the outskirts of the bustling city. Off in the distance, she could see the vague silhouette of Paradise High, like an ominous giant. 

Down the road, she could see Watanabe heading up to her. He lived somewhere around here, where he could study in peace without the cityscape's noises disturbing him. As he approached, she could sense a change in his mood. He was withdrawn, his exuberant personality dampened. Leaning on the signpost, Yuki raised an eyebrow at him. "You don't look so excited. What's going on?"

Watanabe's eyes were firmly fixed on the sidewalk. "It's just… I don't think running back to that alleyway is a good idea. What if we see that gangster again?" 

Yuki smirked. "Heh. Well, it's a good thing we're not going back there."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you might have been a bit too freaked out to notice, but that mechanic guy had a bunch of take-out dropped on his table." Yuki crossed her arms smugly. "Well, the thing is, all the take-out's from one specific restaurant. One restaurant that's super easy to find online, within the city, and a favourite for cheap, delicious food. Their words, not mine."

Watanabe stared in confusion. "You don't mean…"

"That's right. We're gonna be eating out today!" Pulling a flyer out of her pocket, Yuki couldn't help grinning at her own cleverness. "I hope you brought some extra pocket money."

* * *

Yoshida's garage was located within the depths of the city, close to the underdepths where danger lurked. By comparison, the restaurant was nowhere near as dangerous. Set between the intersection of two busy roads, the place exuded a well-worn atmosphere, as if thousands of people had entered and reentered it's domain.

Well-worn might not have been the best word to describe it, Watanabe supposed. A better word might have been homely, especially when hundreds of people weren't clustered within. Wooden floors and chairs gave the place a traditional look, like they had just stepped into a decade-old inn. Plastered on a sign outside was the name  _ "Muramatsu's" _ , with a cute sketch of a noodle bowl underneath. 

It was a pleasant place, the kind where you could spend hours with a good friend and take no notice of anything outside. Still, it wasn't as if Watanabe was especially keen on staying. Softly, he whispered to Yuki, unwilling to shatter the atmosphere. "So, what's the plan?"

Yuki shrugged. "Didn't think that far ahead. I was kinda hoping he'd just be in here by the time we arrived." She wasn't adjusting her voice at all.

"Well, at least we're here…" Watanabe shrugged. Suddenly, his eyes lit up in excitement. "Oh! What about a stake-out?" Yuki blinked in confusion, unsure of what he was talking about. Watanabe was more than happy to explain. "You know, where we sit around until he shows up, then ambush him? Thing is, it could take hours before anything happens."

Yuki looked horrified. Patience was never a virtue she liked, much less had. "What? No! I've still got things to do!" Huffing, she looked around at the lingering customers in the shop. "Look, let's just chat up the regulars. Maybe someone knows when that mechanic comes around here." 

"Um, sure." Watanabe shifted uncomfortably. The thought of interrupting a stranger in the middle of their meal wasn't a pleasant thought. "I'll follow your lead."

Arms akimbo, Yuki grinned happily. "That's what I like to hear!" She turned around, faced the nearest victim, and promptly shattered Watanabe's trust, not to mention the peaceful atmosphere. "Hey, you! See a mechanic here somewhere? Blue jumpsuit, kinda tall, dreadlock hairstyle?" Her voice was as subtle as a baseball bat to the face.

The shocked customer flinched, not expecting a middle schooler to start yelling at him in the middle of his meal. Awkwardly, he shook his head. "Uh… No?" 

"Damn." Yuki muttered, then stalked off. Watanabe followed behind, muttering a hurried apology. They repeated the process for the next few customers. Yuki shouting, random customers getting annoyed, and absolutely no progress being made whatsoever. 

Suddenly, a shadow fell over both of them. Turning around, Watanabe let out a tiny yelp of surprise. A tall man had materialized behind them, glowering ominously. He carried a scary-looking ladle, though Watanabe supposed he could have been carrying a bouquet of flowers and still look terrifying. Nervously, Watanabe tapped on Yuki's shoulder. "Uh… Yuki?"

"Not now, I have a good feeling about this next one." It seemed she was completely oblivious to the danger. Like she did with the last couple of customers, Yuki began yelling once again. "Hey, you! Didja see a mechanic here somewhere?"

"Yeah, I've seen him." A leery voice came from behind.

"Great!" Yuki whirled around, a pleased grin on her face. That grin quickly dissipated into dread. "Oh." 

* * *

The inside of the kitchen matched the outside fairly well. Spices and garnishes lined the walls, sitting on the shelves in well-used disarray. Wooden ladles and spatulas also hung down, all pointing to the centerpiece: A large metal pot, bubbling and giving off a wondrous aroma.

Not that any of that caught Watanabe's attention. Instead, his attention was devoted to the tall, angry chef that was standing in front of them. The man was tall, towering over the two by several heads. On his head was a white bandana, almost covering up his mop of messy blond hair. A stained apron covered up his black shirt, and his hands clutched a dripping ladle.

Watanabe was already in full apology mode. "Sir Important and Very Handsome Chef Man, what we did was very wrong, and we sincerely apologize for anything-"

A stern glare quickly silenced him. "Why are you searching for Yoshida?" Unconsciously, Watanabe dimly felt the piercing glare, consciously watching their every action. This was going to be more than a simple scolding.

"Wait, you know him?" Yuki matched his glare, creating a staredown between the two.

"My restaurant, my questions." As little as Watanabe knew about people, he could still understand the chef was apprehensive of them, not just angry. Tall as a lamppost, the chef made no motion. "Now, why are you two here?"

Watanabe had frozen up completely now. It fell to Yuki now to explain themselves out of the situation. "He saved us from a punk yesterday. We guessed he hangs around here, so we wanted to stop by and say thanks." She had picked her words carefully, leaving out any mention of their investigation.

The chef shot a brief glance at the clock.  _ 4:48 _ , it read. "He'll be here in a few minutes. In the meanwhile, you two sit right there."

* * *

Uncomfortably fidgeting in his seat, Watanabe wondered if letting Yuki take charge was maybe a bad idea. Their seat was placed very close to the chef's window, which allowed him to keep a close eye on them at all times. Thankfully, it worked both ways, allowing Watanabe a good look into the chef's activities. Even without a knowledge of cooking, he could tell that the chef was skilled. Each movement betrayed an efficiency born of experience, of practiced skill. Watching him juggle tasks skillfully, a question brought itself to Watanabe's mind:  _ Why doesn't he hire extra help? _

The tinkling of a bell snapped him out of his trance. Sauntering into the restaurant was their target, one hand stuffed in his pocket. "Hey, Muramatsu! What's u…" The mechanic's voice trailed off, as he once again caught sight of two familiar faces. Watanabe waved awkwardly.

The chef, Muramatsu, peeked his head out of the kitchen. Scowling, he pointed a spatula through the window. "These kids were looking for you. Recognize them?"

A slow grin grew on the mechanic's face, cracking the guarded exterior. With a wave of his hand, he motioned Muramatsu to calm down. "Go easy on them, 'Matsu. They're Nagisa's kids." Yoshida frowned, reconsidering his words. "Er, Nagisa's students."

Muramatsu's eyes turned wide with shock. Looking at both of them with renewed surprise, he accosted them with a loud voice. "Nagisa? You mean… Nagisa Shiota?" Both Paradise High students nodded, nervously looking for an escape route. They needn't have worried though. In the blink of an eye, the stern chef had become excited and jovial. "Well, why didn't you say so?! How's he doing?" 

Amused, Yoshida pointed at the boiling pot on the stove, steam rising from it. "Hey, don't you think you're forgetting something?"

Snapping his fingers, Muramatsu brightened up. "Ah, right, your order! I'll just finish it up! Do you two want anything?" Before they could answer, a fresh plume of steam erupted from the pot. In the blink of an eye, Muramatsu had already scooped up four bowls of whatever he was cooking."I'll be right there!"

As soon as Muramatsu rushed off back into the kitchen, Yoshida dropped his amiable grin. Settling into an empty chair, he regarded the two with a curious look. "You two don't give up easily, huh?" 

"Glad you picked up real quick." 

"Y-yeah! We're not backing down!"

Yoshida's expression remained static. Shaking his head, the mechanic turned his gaze away. His brow furrowed, as in debate with himself. Neither Yuki nor Watanabe wanted to break this uneasy lull.

Muramatsu arrived in a short while, cradling a tray in his hands. With a grace bestowed by experience, he quickly doled out the bowls of ramen masterfully. " _ Kishishi _ . Here we are! Four bowls of ramen, extra noodles!" Muramatsu took the fourth bowl for himself. Strangely, he didn't start eating yet. Raising a single eyebrow, he looked at his three guests with keen interest. "Yoshida, how did you three meet? Did Nagisa send them?"

Yoshida shook his head. "Nah. These two came around by themselves. Got into a scrap in front of the repair shop, so I bailed them out."  _ A scrap _ was a gross oversimplification, but Watanabe certainly wasn't about to debate him over that.

"And what were you two doing out there so late?"

Yuki and Watanabe shared an uneasy glance. One the one hand, Muramatsu also seemed familiar with Shiota-Sensei, not to mention his friendliness with Yoshida. He could help them, maybe? On the other hand, was it truly a good idea to just tell him?  _ The fastest route between Points A and B is always a straight line _ . Lying and deception didn't suit him, anyways. "We were trying to find Shiota-Sensei after school, to ask him if he was hiding a secret. But we got lost, and found the garage by accident."

"Secret? Do you mean…" Muramatsu shot a glance at Yoshida. In an instant, his expression had turned guarded.

Yoshida nodded briskly. "Yeah, that one."

Muramatsu's brow furrowed, his head turning downwards. Unconsciously, he toyed with the cutlery knife, as if unsure on how to proceed. "What you're looking for is a very big secret. None of us are going to give it up easily." The edges of Muramatsu's mouth curled into a small smile, almost nostalgic. "But that's only made you two more eager to find out, hm? Very well, then! Allow me, Chef Takuya Muramatsu, to appetize you with a piece of the puzzle!... That is, if my companion allows it." He turned to Yoshida, raising an eyebrow.

Closing his eyes, Yoshida let out a small breath. "Go for it."

Muramatsu grinned. Settling down into his chair, he began to narrate his story. "Well, 7 years ago, both Yoshida and I were placed in a class. The class was special because it was a class for 28 delinquents, the worst of the entire school. They called it the end class, because anyone who fell there was doomed to see their dreams end."

Yuki nodded in approval. "A class just for delinquents? Seems like my type of school. But what's this got to do with anything?"

The former delinquent smirked, recalling bygone days. "Your prof's a part of that class. Or was a part, anyways." The students recoiled in surprise, shocked at the revelation. The mental image of a tiny Shiota-Sensei wearing a leather jacket and bad tattoos passed through Watanabe's mind.

"I was getting there!" Muramatsu huffed, crossing his arms in annoyance. "Anyways, all of us were given one secret, one secret we swore to keep as long as we lived. This secret… Is what you search for now."

Sifting through the storm of questions, Watanabe singled out the most pressing one on his mind. "And… Theoretically speaking, of course, if we were to find the other 25 members, could one of them tell us?"

Yoshida gave him a noncommittal shrug in reply. "Maybe?"

Compared to Watanabe, Yuki was far more practical. She had already begun to consider the next step. "So, how do we find these guys? These… Enders?" The practicality wasn't enough to stop her from suggesting a bad nickname, however.

"How about  _ The Ended _ ?" Watanabe deepened his voice dramatically, as if that would make such a corny name sound cool.

"Stud-ends?" Yuki stacked a pun onto the list of bad ideas.

Judging by the annoyed looks on their faces, neither of the former members of End Class appreciated the nicknames. "How about just calling us E-Class instead?" Yoshida muttered in a wry tone. "Anyways, we all drifted apart once we graduated… Some, like Muramatsu and I, still keep in close contact. Others, we haven't seen for a while now." Yoshida let out a bitter sigh, his face falling in disappointment.

Muramatsu slapped him on the back. "There you go, moping again! It's not like they all died or disappeared!" Nonchalantly, Muramatsu scribbled an address on some tissue paper, then handed it over to them. "There should be a bakery shop at that address. If you ever meet their owner, just tell her you're Nagisa's students!"

Watanabe nodded, new questions beginning to form within his mind. The secret of End Class weighed heavily on him, for one. Then there was Shiota-Sensei's origin, for another. But one question outranked them all, taking up most of his thoughts:  _ What's the coolest "End" nickname we can give? _

" _ Kishishi. _ I'll toss in some advice for you two, free of charge. Always have a second knife on you, ready for anything." The adult stroked his chin, as if he were a wise sage bestowing life advice. 

"Well, if you say so!" Yuki promptly stuffed the cutlery knives into her pocket. 

"Hey, give those back!"

"You'd better do as he says. Those knives won't cut anything harder than pork, anyways." Sulking, Yuki unwillingly returned the knives. Yoshida shrugged. "What he meant to say was, always have a back-up plan. You never know what could happen."

Standing up, Watanabe bowed deeply as a sign of respect. "We understand. Thank you, Muramatsu Sir! Thank you, Yoshida Sir!" 

Glancing out the window, Yuki watched as the sun set over the horizon. "Well, we should go now."

"Ah! One last thing!" Muramatsu handed them a strange set of vouchers. "It's a special discount for any meal here. Be sure to invite your friends over!"

* * *

Bonus Scene:

Watching as the two left, Muramatsu smiled, recalling dusty memories from bygone days. Suddenly, he jabbed Yoshida in the ribs. "Don't tell me you forgot to eat your ramen in all that!"

Yoshida smiled guiltily. In order to appease him, he took a small sip of the steaming soup. "It's a bit saltier than usual… You rushed a bit, didn't you?"

"Well, the kids made a pretty big racket looking for you." Frowning, Muramatsu stared out of the restaurant's window. In the distance, the silhouette of a mountain loomed, tall and proud. "What do you think? Do they have a chance?"

"Are you kidding? You should know better than anyone, Muramatsu. Don't ever underestimate a student. Especially not when Nagisa's teaching them."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya. This time, there weren't any delays in writing this one. Weird how that works, huh? Not sure if I can keep this up with new assignments on the way, but I'll try my best! Anyways, I'm sure you aren't here to listen to my college woes. Let's talk about the chapter!
> 
> Canonically, both Yoshida and Muramatsu both take up their parent's jobs, so choosing jobs for them was simple enough to do. What wasn't so simple was choosing their interactions with the OCs. Earlier ideas for them included Muramatsu teaching them to cook, as well as a dragged out stakeout scene. I eventually just decided to go with the simple route and set them on the right path to the secret.
> 
> Speaking of the secret... I'm sure a good amount of you have already guessed what they're hiding. If you have, be sure to stick around to see how Watanabe and Yuki figure it out!


	3. Sugar Time! Setbacks at the Sweet Smile!

Whistling a merry tune, Yuki followed Watanabe's lead down the twisting streets. Tall houses passed by one after the other, each dwarfed by the cityscape they had left behind. The air here was peaceful, the crowds slightly more dispersed. In other words, a perfect nesting ground for smaller businesses, for those who could not compete with the corporations in the heart of the city. Sparing a glance away from his phone, Watanabe looked at Yuki. "So, what do you think about the delinquent class thing? Think they're telling the truth?"

"I dunno, but I want it to be true. Shiota-Sensei, hanging out with a bunch of rulebreakers? That's awesome." Crossing her arms, Yuki's expression turned contemplative for a brief moment. "Plus, I guess it makes sense. Hanging around with the right crowd's gonna toughen you up, one way or the other."

"I don't think that's necessarily true…" Watanabe muttered, looking down at himself. He was fairly certain that tough people didn't walk around in polo-shirts and glasses. 

"Ah, you just haven't hung around with us enough yet. We'll toughen you up, just wait and see!" With a wolfish grin, Yuki slammed her fist into her palm like she was ready for a fight. The mental image of being repeatedly punched in the face materialized in Watanabe's mind.

The road ended right here. Looking up, Yuki barely suppressed a frightened gasp. Unconsciously, she took a step back, as if to escape. Watanabe glanced at her in confusion. "Huh? What's wro… Oh." 

Standing in front of them was a brightly colored bakery, clad in garish pinks and whites. Frosted cakes decorated the storefront's windows, each a happy collage of a family. Shut-off fairy lights lurked all throughout the storefront, ready to burst in a blaze of blinking colors at any time. And above it all, the store's mascot crowned it like a twisted jewel. It was difficult to describe it, but it looked like a yellow, beady-eyed emoji with a massive smile. 

Truly, no greater hell there was for Yuki, who would have worn a leather jacket in blazing heat just to look cool. Stepping away from the saccharine build, she turned to her companion. “Are you sure this is the right place?" 

Watanabe double-checked the directions. Strange as this place seemed, it was the address Muramatsu gave them. “Yeah. Were you expecting something different?”

Yuki grimaced, wondering if the truth was even worth it at this point. Stepping inside would probably cause her to spontaneously explode from the sheer cutesy energy it radiated. "It's… Uh… Pastel colored."

"Huh? What’s wrong with pastel?” 

“Nothing. It’s just… I was expecting a cooler looking place. This looks like something a kid would go to." Not just any kid. The kid would have to be three, wear a massive bow and frilly dress, and ride around on a magical beast before even considering walking in there.

Unfortunately for her, Watanabe didn't have a reputation to shatter. "I think it looks pretty neat. It’s just a bakery, after all.” Pushing open the glass doors, he stepped inside the frilly nightmare. "C'mon, let's go inside."

* * *

The insides were more of the same as the exterior, if not more childish. Pink cushions and linen tables were placed all throughout the bakery, each set topped with a plastic flower. Stuffed toys and motivational posters decorated the walls, and in the corner was… _ Is that a playpen for babies?! _

Yuki could already feel her teeth decaying from the cloying atmosphere of the room. Letting out a long suffering sigh, she muttered to herself. "Let's just get this over with." 

Compared to the Ramen shop, the restaurant was much emptier. Only a few adults lingered, watching over their children as they played in the communal playpen. Heads lowered, both teens made a beeline for the front of the store where the counter was. Seeing the two, an attendant came to take their order. "Welcome to the  _ Sweet Smile _ ! What would you like?"

Yuki gently shoved Watanabe forward. No offense to the attendant, but she didn't exactly trust anyone who willingly spent time in here, let alone get a job. Shifting nervously, Watanabe looked up at him. "Could we see the owner, if she isn't busy?"

The attendant nodded briskly. "Ah, just one moment." Ringing the bell twice, he called back into the kitchen. "Miss Hara, there's someone looking for you!"

A sing-song voice called out from inside the kitchen. "One minute, I'll be right there!" From the depths of the kitchen, kindly eyes peeked out from behind before the baker emerged. She was a jolly-looking woman, brown hair tied up in a bun on her head. An apron wrapped itself around her, the store's mascot stitched onto the top-left corner. "Oh! Have we met before? Forgive me, my memory can be fuzzy."

Watanabe didn't know why, but there was something about her that put him at ease. Oddly comfortable, he spoke to her like he would to a doting aunt. "Mister Muramatsu sent us here… He said you could help us?"

"We're Shiota-Sensei's students, if that means anything to you.”

"Shiota… Nagisa Shiota?” Shock flared on the kindly chef's face. Excitedly, she looked at the glass doors, as if expecting someone to enter at any moment. “Oh! Is he here?”

“Sorry, ma’am… It’s just us two.”

The baker's face fell in disappointment. “Well, that’s a shame. I would have liked to see him again.” Suddenly, she perked up again. “Oh! Forgive me, I had forgotten to introduce myself! My name is Sumire Hara.”

“Satoshi Watanabe, from Paradise High!” Watanabe jabbed a thumb at himself, proud to be a member of the school.

“Tsuji Yuki.” Yuki muttered, her tone a mixture of annoyance and exasperation. At the moment, she was thinking several unkind thoughts about the woman's choice in decor. 

“It's a pleasure to meet you!" Hara extended a friendly handshake. Cautiously, Watanabe shook it, letting flour dust fall over the countertops. "Now, what might the two of you be doing here? You aren't here just to buy sweets, are you?"

“Uh, no. We're just here to ask a few questions, then we'll be on our way." Yuki quickly cut off Watanabe, eyes darting around apprehensively. 

"A few questions? Oh, but I'm in the middle of a new batch…" Hara glanced back at the kitchen.

"We can wait!" Watanabe volunteered. Yuki had the sudden urge to  _ politely _ block off his windpipe until he came to his senses.

It seemed she wouldn't get the chance, though. Having sensed Yuki's discomfort, the matronly baker stepped to the side, gesturing to the kitchen. "No, no, I can't possibly make you wait that long. You could come inside the kitchen, if you like?"

"That's fine! Thanks, ma'am!" Yuki swiftly accepted, eager to escape the fluffy room.

* * *

Compared to the saccharine sickness that was the dining room, the kitchen was infinitely more bearable. Comfortably sitting on a plastic chair, Yuki was grateful for her very narrow escape. Looking around, she could see that while the dining room was built for the atmosphere, the kitchen itself was built for convenience. Tiles and walls were a plain white, while stainless steel was used for both the countertops and the sinks. All across the kitchen, the faint scent of freshly baked bread permeated the atmosphere.

Of course, it seemed that the baker, Hara, exuded a warm atmosphere with her very presence. If Yuki were to be honest, she reminded the delinquent of an old grandmother. Still, she looked rather young. Gently, she took a tray of cookies out from the over. Turning to the duo, she called out from the other side of the room. "So, how is Nagisa?" 

"He's… All right? I guess?" Watanabe wasn't sure how to answer. As far as he knew, Shiota-Sensei had always been Shiota-Sensei, the enigmatic teacher. 

Hara rephrased the question. "Is he treating you two well?"

"It'd be better if he wasn't so strict. The way he's treating us, you'd think we were super geniuses." The delinquent let out a small huff of annoyance. She would definitely be skipping his classes if Shiota-Sensei wasn't some sort of freaky teacher-ninja.

"Hm… Maybe you are, and you just don't know it yet?" Hara suggested, her tone of voice encouraging.

Yuki rolled her eyes. "Yeah, as if." Unconsciously, she clenched a fist, biting back a growing temper inside her. 

Seeing her silently fume, Watanabe began to panic. One wrong move was all it took to destabilize their plans. Eyes darting around the room, he searched for a distraction. Quickly, his gaze fell on the cookie trays.  _ There's one!  _ "Um, if you don't mind me asking, who are those cookies for? All the shelves are full." He pointed to a stash of colorful plastic bags. Within each of the bundles was a bunch of cookies, all wrapped together.

"Ah, it's for Wakaba Park School! I'm going to visit there today! Would you like to come?" Hara slid a tray of cookies into a shiny plastic bag. Tying it together with a cute ribbon, she then stuck a little post-it note on top. 

"Uh… No thanks." Yuki had never heard of Wakaba Park School before, which was strange. Paradise High was certainly competitive, so any student studying there would eventually learn of all the major schools. Maybe this school just wasn't that popular? One thing was for certain, though. She certainly wasn't ignoring her homework just to visit another school. Come to think of it… Why was she even here?  _ Oh, right. _ "There's something we need to say, right now."

"Oh? Go ahead, I'm listening." Hara stopped her work for a moment. 

" _ End class _ ." Yuki whispered the word, as if it were a secret code word that would activate her.

"Pardon me?" She leaned in closer, ready to catch the phrase.

Mentally facepalming, Yuki raised her voice to regular levels. Perhaps it wasn't the brightest idea to whisper a codeword to someone on the other side of the room. "End class."

"Oh!" A brief moment of confusion and anxiety passed through her, before being veiled again. Chuckling anxiously, she tried to divert the topic. "So, you two are from an End Class as well! Well, I know a few good study tips-"

"You used to be part of the End Class with Shiota-Sensei, right?" Watanabe immediately cut off the diversion. He was never good at mincing words, anyways.

*Yes." Surprised by Watanabe's frankness, Hara dropped her guard. "How did you know?"

"Muramatsu and Yoshida told us. They also told us the secret, so it's perfectly fine to talk about it to us now!" Yuki winked rather obviously, pretending she was in on the secret.

"Wait, he said that?" 

Yuki slammed her palm on her forehead. "Damn it, Watanabe!"

Ponderously, the secret-keeper turned her face from them. An old smile was there on her face, a smile worn down by time and age. "I'm sorry. It's just, you two reminded me of some old memories. It's been a while since I've remembered these…"

"Could you tell us?" Perking up, the young boy locked eyes with the baker. 

Hara pursed her lips. "Hm… This isn't really a story for kids…" 

"Yoshida and Muramatsu sent us! They wouldn't have sent us here if they didn't think we could handle it." Watanabe insisted, standing up from his seat.

"Those two are… Different. I know they mean well, but this isn't something you two should be involved with." There was no smug superiority or belittling in her tone. Instead, he saw genuine concern reflected in her eyes. 

"Can we do anything to change your mind?" He pleaded one last time.

"No." Turning away from them, Sumire Hara bowed her head low. Without realizing it, she toyed with her apron, fingering the wool patch where the store's mascot was sewn. "I'm sorry. I know it's hard, but there are some things you can't understand until you're older. Please promise me you'll stay away from this…"

"We-"

A palm slammed on his chest. Yuki rose up, her eyes lighting up with an untamed will. Her frustrations had boiled over, breaking her restraint. Shoving Watanabe back into his seat, she confronted the baker. "With all due respect, ma'am, we're not gonna give up just because you've told us to."

"Dear, please reconsider…" The older woman pleaded, to no avail.

Yuki stared her dead in the eye. "I get it. You’re not gonna help us. That’s fine by me. But mark my words… We will figure this out, with or without your help!” A fierce pride rushed through her, causing her to grin confidently. “I’ll give you a promise as well. When we come back, it’s gonna be with the truth!”

Hara didn't flinch. Matching her gaze, she smiled warmly, like she was meeting a long lost friend. "You remind me of my old classmates… Young, headstrong, and unwilling to give up. You would be just the same age as well… I'm sorry I can't help. But I hope that someday, you'll find the answers you're looking for."

Hara's calm demeanour snapped Yuki out of her rage, turning back into a slightly embarrassed teenager. Humbled, she dropped back down to her seat, thoughts running through her head.  _ Did I really just yell at a friendly lady just because I hated her decor? _ Mollified, she averted her gaze. "Thanks, ma'am."

"Oh! I almost forgot." Faster than the eye could follow, Hara pulled out three sticky notes from her pile. Writing a little message on each of them, she then attached the messages to three cookie bundles. Before either of them could ask, she had already pushed the cookies on to them. "One for you, one for you, and one for Nagisa. Tell him I said hi!"

"We will…"

* * *

"I can't believe she just turned us down…" Heading back up the winding paths, Yuki exhaled in dismay. In her hands was Hara’s gift of cookies, now only half full. Attached to the bag was a little note:  _ Prove me wrong, dear! Good luck!  _ Every time Yuki caught a glimpse of it, a tiny stab of guilt passed through her.

"I guess we should have expected it. We can't expect everyone to be open." Watanabe let out a sigh of disappointment, clutching his own bag of cookies as well as Shiota-Sensei's. Dangling on his own was another note:  _ Do your best! _ , with a little heart drawn on at the end.

Chewing in between words, Yuki let a frown creep onto her face. "Hate to say it, but we're stuck now. We don't know anyone else from their class."

"Actually, I think I have an idea." Watanabe adjusted his glasses, letting the lenses flare dramatically.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... Hara. The first of the students to not have a canonical job. I debated between making her a nursery teacher and a baker, but it felt a little bit wrong to give anyone other than Nagisa a teaching role. I eventually compromised on giving her a "child friendly" bakery and visits to Wakaba Park School. If you want a better mental image of the bakery, imagine Super Weenie Hut Jr's from Spongebob. (Side note: Yes, I am terrible at naming things, restaurants included.)
> 
> That being said... Setbacks are common for any investigation. Not everyone's willing to give exposition, after all! But despite everything, Hara did give away one major clue that'll help our duo then they get back to the investigation!
> 
> Next up: An interlude. (Interludes are going to focus on Shiota-Sensei and his class, instead of anyone from 3-E. Anyone excited to finally see the mystery teacher?)


	4. Interlude 1: Dismissal Time!

Letting out a sigh of relief, Watanabe closed his notebook wearily. Whoever decided to place Shiota-Sensei into their final period was probably an evil sadist. Putting their strictest teacher into the final session, when they were the most exhausted… Even Watanabe could barely keep up under the constant pressure. Sluggishly, he looked at his pencil, still clutched in a weary grip. The tip was still smoking. It had almost burst into flame from the speed he had written.  _ Whoever taught Shiota-Sensei to go full speed while teaching was probably an evil monster. _ But at least it was over now…

"Hey, Watanabe?" Yuki stumbled over, shaking the sleep from her eyes. As much as she wanted to doze through the rest of the lesson, nobody was brave enough to fall asleep in class. One brave idiot named Kohako tried it once, and was forced to spend the next two hours after school in detention, where Shiota-Sensei gladly retaught him everything he had slept through in great detail. The poor kid was never quite the same afterwards. Shivering at the thought, Yuki woke herself up with a few pinches. Reaching into her bag, she surreptitiously pulling out a bag of cookies. "Remember these?"

Instinctively, Watanabe checked his surroundings for any lingering classmates. He needn't have; Nobody was going to stay in school any longer than they needed to. Turning back to Yuki, he gave her a confused look. "Yeah, Shiota-Sensei's cookies. What's wrong with them?"

"Well, I was just gonna drop the bag on his desk and leave, but… Well, you'll see." Turning the bag around, she revealed a tiny post-it note attached on it's back. Written on it was a little message of it's own:  _ Stay sharp, but soft! - Sumire Hara, Yuki, Watanabe _

Watanabe raised an eyebrow. It would be difficult to explain what they were doing with the bakery owner, if Shiota-Sensei ever asked them. But even still, he couldn't quite see what the big issue was. "Why not just take the note off?"

Yuki rolled her eyes. "You saw her! She was putting notes on everything!" As if to prove it, she pulled out her now emptied cookie bag as well. Her own message was still attached, it's adhesive barely hanging on. "If we give these without a note, he's gonna be on to us."

"Oh. Well, why not eat the cookies and throw away the note?"

Yuki shook her head violently. "Do you WANT me to feel even guiltier?! No, we've got to give these."

She really wasn't giving him much of a choice. Shrugging dismissively, the young boy took the bag for himself. "Well, if you say so. How are we gonna take our names off?"

Picking up a pencil off her desk, Yuki twirled it around her fingers. "I've forged signatures before. It's a talent of mine."

"Wait, so that sick leave letter…"

The delinquent put a finger to her lips. Deftly, she plucked the note off the bag, carefully noting the writing style. "Damn, it's in running script. This might take a bit longer."

Watanabe was never good at breaking the rules, forgery least of all. Nervously, he peeked his head out into the hallway, expecting to see an army of policemen marching down to arrest them. Instead, what he saw was so much worse. "We might not have  _ a bit longer. _ Shiota-Sensei's coming back here!"

"Wha- Why- Screw it! We're not gonna get another chance to drop this off! Distract him!" With a flurry of violence, Yuki began to scrub off the writing on the note with her pencil. Panicked, Watanabe rushed out in a desperate delaying maneuver.

* * *

Tuning out all the warning bells in his mind, Watanabe rushed out of the classroom. The hallway was abandoned now, except for the looming figure in the distance. The footsteps stopped. Keen sapphire globes honed in on him from afar, locking on to him in a moment's time. Coming down from the stairwell, Shiota-Sensei noted his approach. An aura of serenity constantly surrounded him, like there was nothing in the world that could break his calm demeanour. He blinked, and the piercing gaze turned away, aimed towards the classroom.

It was obvious where he was headed. Walking up very casually, Watanabe made a very subtle attempt to block him off from the hallway. "Hi, Shiota-Sensei!"

"Oh, hello." The teacher's mouth shifted into a welcoming smile. Raising a single eyebrow, he looked down on his nervous student. "School ended a few minutes ago. Why are you still here?"

"Well, um, you see, er…" He hadn't readied a good excuse. Darting around for an excuse, Watanabe's eyes fell on a trophy cabinet not far away.  _ #2 for Math, 2018 _ was engraved on it. "I need help with a Math Project! A very difficult one!"

Shiota-Sensei's face shifted, slight perplexion playing on it. "But I teach English Literature."

"It's… Because… I trust you that much?" Beads of sweat were beginning to form on his head. Tugging on his shirt nervously, Watanabe could not have looked more suspicious if he tried.

Not that Shiota-Sensei seemed to notice. Nodding briskly, the teacher began to move forward once more. "All right, Let's go to our homeroom. I'll see what I can do."

"No!" Watanabe yelled, instinctively waving his arms to block off his advance. Catching himself, he began to nervously wipe the sweat off his face. "I mean… No, I can't make you walk that far! You'll get tired and sweaty!"

The classroom was 3 rooms down the hallway. Shiota-Sensei glanced over once, then back to Watanabe. "I'll be fine."

"No, I insist!" Abandoning all hope of subtlety, he stretched his arms out far and wide, like a goalkeeper trying to block a shot. He strained his legs to stretch out too, making him look like a particularly silly starfish. Still, at least Shiota-Sensei couldn't get past hi-

A gust of wind blew past the student. Before Watanabe could whirl around, a gentle touch pushed him slightly forward, sending off balance. Flailing his arms wildly, Watanabe almost fell when a steady grip suddenly caught him. With a smile, Shiota-Sensei pulled him back up to his feet. "Good attempt. Remember to keep your center of balance above your legs. Don't lean out too far, or it'll be easy to knock you down."

"Oh, um… Thank you, sir?" Shaking off his teacher's grip, Watanabe rose back up to his feet. Unwilling to quit just yet, he tried one more time to stall him. "But really, I think we can talk about the project out here. Where it's… Cooler?"

A massive yell called out from the end of the hallway. Bursting out of the classroom, Yuki waved her arms wildly. "Watanabe, I'm done! Get out of…" The yell died out, replaced by a squeaky whimper. "Oh, Shiota-Sensei!"

An amused smile played on the edges of Shiota-Sensei's lips. "Hello, Miss Yuki. You haven't forgotten your essay on Edgar Allen Poe, have you? It's been a week since the deadline passed."

"No, sir! I'm just… Finalizing the essay. I just want it to be perfect!" Nervously, Yuki began to pull Watanabe away, both of them eager to escape. "C'mon, Watanabe. Let's go finish the homework. Right now."

"Right! Bye, Shiota-Sensei!" Watanabe knew an exit when he saw one.

"Oh, one last thing." The teacher put on his lecturer's voice, as if to give them one last lesson for the day. "Mr. Watanabe, if you want to distract someone, divert their attention. If you block them off, that will only make them more suspicious. That's all!" And like a gust of wind slipping through one's fingertips, Nagisa Shiota slipped past both of them unhindered. Looking back in shock, the last glimpse they both caught of him was a tinge of blue disappearing through a doorway.

One thought simultaneously passed through both their minds.  _ We are so screwed. _

* * *

Fading sunlight filled the classroom with a crimson hue. A tinge of amusement passed through Nagisa's chest, though no laughter was heard. Stooping low, he bent underneath his desk, picking up the plastic suitcase he had left beneath. Like an idiot, he had left it behind as soon as class was over. Mentally reprimanding himself, Nagisa rifled through the suitcase, making sure nothing was taken as a prank. Everything was accounted for.

His thoughts slipped back to Watanabe's strange request, back in the hallway. As much as he had tried, he was still nowhere near close to his old teacher's omnidiscipline in all subjects. Back then, his teacher had taught all subjects perfectly. But now… Nagisa had never felt the weight of the legacy weigh down on him so hard until just then, realizing he could not help his own students as much as his last teacher. It was likely just a distraction, but what if the request had been genuine? What could he have done?

A glimmer of red caught his eye. Beams of the red sunlight shone off a plastic bag, its creases glimmering in the light. Curiously, he picked it up. It seemed to be a bag filled with cookies, a sticky note attached to it. Written on it was a message in flowing script:  _ Stay sharp, but soft! - Sumire Hara,  _ _ Hara, and Hara again. _

Nagisa couldn't help but wonder. Carefully, he unwrapped the bag, taking a small bite of the cookie. It was certainly Hara's cooking, different from a normal store-bought one.  _ But how had it gotten here? _ Contemplatively, he looked out to the setting sun, absentmindedly chewing on the cookie. There was a lot to think about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... A few days late on this one. Sorry, it seemed most of the professors wanted to give one last burst of schoolwork before declaring a christmas break. Kinda sucks, but what can one do? (Side note: Next few chapters are gonna either be shorter or take more time between them. There's no good excuse, I just wanna play co-op Terraria with friends.)
> 
> So, the first of many interludes, and our first actual look as Professor Shiota! Honestly, it was a bit difficult to decide how to portray him. His own personality's quiet and introspective, but he's taken on the mantle of one of the most energetic teachers out there. In the end, I decided to keep his original personality for when he's not teaching. In class, however... you'll have to wait and see.
> 
> Side note: The new note was supposed to have the new words in a different font, to show that Yuki wasn't actually that good at forgery. Unfortunately, AO3 doesn't seem to have a way to change fonts, so we're stuck. Just imagine the section "hara, and hara again" in comic sans, if you don't mind.


	5. Search time: Into the cryptic library

Overcast skies colored the clouds a stormy grey, the faint drizzle of rain drumming down on the pavement. Crossing her arms, Yuki took shelter under the front porch of the library, shivering slightly inside her leather jacket. The day was gloomy, perhaps even ominous. She wasn't here by random chance. As soon as they were sure that Shiota-Sensei wasn't tailing them like a ninja, they had immediately set out on their next lead. Watanabe had told her to meet up here, claiming to have made a breakthrough in the case.

Speaking of whom… There he was now. Dropping off from a nearby bus stop, the detective rushed through the rain, covering his head and glasses as best he could. As soon as he reached the roof and safety, he shook off the raindrops, sending a fresh shower of rain everywhere. Brushing the raindrops off her jacket, Yuki looked at Watanabe curiously. "So, out with it. What's your plan?"

Smirking, Watanabe pushed his glasses back up. "Well, it's actually quite simple. First of all, we know that Shiota-Sensei was part of a class. All the members of this class shared one secret. So if we can find the names of all the members of this class, we should have a good idea of what to do next."

Unconvinced, Yuki crossed her arms. "Yeah, but how do we get that? There's a ton of classes out there. Way too many to hunt through."

"Well, not quite. Remember what the baker, Hara, said? Right now, we'd be about the same age as her old classmates. So, logically, Shiota-Sensei would have been the same age as us when he got the secret. And what grade are we in?"

"... The ninth."

"Exactly. Which means he started keeping it 7 years ago. Now, I'm sure you've noticed by now, but Shiota-Sensei hasn't spoken to most of his classmates in a while. But, from what we've seen, every one of them continued to work in his city. Which means that, odds are, he also studied in this very city and never bothered to move!" Grinning, Watanabe crossed his arms triumphantly. "So, all we have to do is look for 9th grade classes 7 years ago in this city!"

Yuki stared at him in shock. Truth be told, she hadn't even noticed the clues, much less kept track. "How do we do that?" She looked at him expectantly, as if expecting some grand plan of action.

Scratching his head, Watanabe smiled awkwardly. "Not sure. I didn't know how to find the lists of classes, so I thought of yearbooks. Yearbooks are a kind of book. And since the library has books…"

"All right then." Not a plan, but it was a start. Placing a hand on his shoulder, Yuki grinned a devious, lopsided grin. "Ever consider being a lawyer? You can bust me outta jail whenever I'm sent there."

Watanabe shrugged. "I… I'll think about it."

* * *

The library was a place of quiet solitude, where those in pursuit of understanding spent their days. Rows upon rows of bookshelves lined themselves in solemn procession, each one carrying knowledge beyond their reach. The quiet drone of air conditioners hummed throughout the room, the only breaks to a tomb-like silence. The dreadful chill outside only intensified, as cold and harsh as deep caverns.

The entrance to the crypt was not unguarded, though. A silent librarian lingered behind the counter, a single hand holding up a black book.  _ The Lovecraft Compendium _ , it read. Dark locks flowed down her hair, shrouding her pale skin. Her clothes were also dark, varying shades of gray all across her. To them, it seemed as if an apparition had stepped out from the misty beyond, appearing to them in person.

Shaking, Watanabe tapped twice on the wooden desk. Whether it was out of cold or fear, nobody quite knew. "H-H-H-Hello?"

"Hm? Oh." The librarian peeked one eye over the rim of her book. Almost as quickly as it had appeared, it darted back into the pages of her book. "Public Computers are over by the self-help aisle, wifi passwords are taped on the desks, and yes, all social media sites are banned."

"A-actually, we wanted to ask if you keep yearbooks…"

"They're on the second floor." Deftly, she slipped a bookmark out from under her desk, pinning it in between the pages of her book. The undercurrent of malice only intensified, like the awakening of a power far beyond their understanding. A lazy gaze swept past the two, hiding a smoldering wit behind it. "What grade are you two?"

"N-nine."

"Hm. Well, minors under college age aren't allowed up there without adult supervision." She decisively reopened her book, expecting that to be the end of the conversation. Watanabe didn't move. His legs had frozen up from pure fear, locking him in place. Another glance from the librarian pinned him in place further. "You're not going to move unless I take you up there, huh?"

"N-n-no." Watanabe shook his head, but even he didn't feel convinced.

"Fine, then." A weary sigh passed through the open air. Rising from her seat, she beckoned for them to follow.

* * *

Tongues sealed by an unknown apprehension, the trio ascended higher to the second floor. Here, it seemed like they had stepped into a new realm, one filled to the brim with endless discoveries. 

"So, what's up here that's so important anyways?" Yuki whispered, the oppressive air of the library bearing down on her. The atmosphere was stifling, as if a thousand teachers pooled their energy together to make sure no delinquents ever set foot in their holy land. 

If the second floor was a new world, then their librarian was their guide. Steadily guiding them through the endless bookshelves, the librarian walked as if this floor was her own sacred grove. Dully, she waved over to a series of shelves, as if she had seen each book here a thousand times. "Reference books. Thesis sources. And scientific journals of all sorts."

"Scientific journals?" Watanabe's eyes widened, and before Yuki could stop him, he had already bounced over to the nearest bookshelf. "Whoa! This one's by Kotaro Takebayashi!" Grabby arms reached up to the top shelf he couldn't quite reach. 

A long black sleeve reached out, deftly pulling out the book without even disturbing the other ones. "You're a fan?"

Grabbing the book, the nerd rifled through it like it was his brand new christmas present. "How could you not be? With his development of a new type of artificial blood, he revolutionized the field of human biology! Both him and Manami Okuda are my heroes!" His entire body was shivering, energetic excitement coursing through him. The excitement had completely overpowered his fear, leaving him giddy. "Can I check this one out? I promise to keep it pristine!"

The faintest hint of a smile was quickly stifled, like a glimpse of a sunbeam before the rolling thunderclouds. "Sure. Just give me your school I.D and I'll make you a library card." Without a word, the librarian moved forward once again, leaving the scientific sections behind.

Finally, at the very edge of the library, they stopped. Cobwebs weaved themselves on the bookshelves, covering the fine layers of dust that permeated these shelves. The lights here were dimmer, steadily shining like fading candlelight. Hidden away on the shelf closest to the wall were the yearbooks, the last remnants of bygone classes. "Here it is. Recently, most schools have been keeping an extra copy of their yearbooks in here for public record."

Watanabe frowned. "Recently?"

Leaning against the wall, the wraith spoke once more. "It was a fairly recent law. After the… Superbeing incident, public pressure forced many schools to be more open about their programs. This section's only here because of a new set of government laws." 

Cautiously, Watanabe dusted off the books. Written in fading ink was an inscription:  _ Yearbook Batches 2017-2018  _ "Would the classes of 2015 be in here?" The shadows shifted around the ghost, the only sign of her head nodding. "Ok. Thank you, Miss…"

"Hazama." Then the specter was still, and spoke nevermore.

* * *

The search was exhausting. Even with the scope narrowed down, there were still a massive number of schools in their city, each with their own sections and batches of students. Hundreds of names passed through the searcher's eyes, each one never their target. Tossing another yearbook into the ever-growing pile, Yuki resisted the urge to scream. The past hour of their search had been useless, their target still unspotted. The yearbooks seemed to be multiplying endlessly, making the search even more daunting. Plus, she was 90% sure Watanabe was sneaking glimpses of the scientific report while her back was turned.

The Librarian, Hazama hadn't left, either. While she almost seemed to fade into the shadows once or twice, the rhythmic flip of book pages always belied her presence. Once or twice, she would sneak a glance at them to make sure they weren't burning the books for fun or ripping out the pages to make paper airplanes. Midway through the search, the apparition spoke again. "You know, you two aren't the first persons to come here." 

The shadows in the room accentuated. All eyes fell on the mysterious wraith, keeper of the hidden texts. "Every now and again, a new seeker comes here, searching for information on the mysterious superbeing and his class. Each time, they leave empty handed. What makes you any different?'

Acclimated to her presence, Watanabe kept on flipping through the pages. With a curious look, he shook his head. "We're not looking for the superbeing, ma'am. We just wanted to find our teacher here."

"A teacher?" Hazama lowered her book, eyeing them from her perch like a ghastly raven.

Yuki spoke up. "Yes, Nagisa Shiota. Does the name sound familiar?"

Hazama blinked once. For a moment, the shadows shook themselves free of her, leaving the visage of a shocked woman. But just as quickly, the shadows returned, and the specter was shrouded once again. She responded with a deadpan voice. "How should I know? I haven't memorized all these yearbooks."

"Oh." Yuki had caught the moment of hesitation. The opportunity to push the topic was there, to try and wring more information out of her. However, she also knew that if she pressed the matter, the librarian could easily kick them out, which could make them lose the only lead they had. 

Yuki chose not to risk it. They already had a lead in the form of these yearbooks. No need to start chasing false trails just yet.

* * *

In the end, their search hadn't revealed anything useful. There were just far too many names for them to go through, too many pictures for them to glance through. Still, they weren't ready to concede defeat just yet. Hefting a massive stack of yearbooks, Yuki waited for Watanabe to check out his own report. As soon as he finished, Yuki dropped all the yearbooks onto the table, shaking it under the massive weight. "I'll be checking these out." 

"Don't bother." Taking her stack of yearbooks, Hazama unceremoniously shoved them back into a trolley cart. Before she could yell, the librarian had already put a finger to her lips. "Right now, all the yearbooks are being processed by the local government into a digital format, for easier public access. You should be able to access everything in a few week's time."

"But that would take too long!"

Rolling her eyes, Hazama let out a long-suffering sigh. "I have a friend. He performs digital maintenance for most government facilities, including this library. If you speak to him, maybe he can grant you two early access." Suddenly, the researchers felt a chill run up their spine. For the first time since their arrival, Hazama was looking directly at them. Half-lidded eyes shot deep into them, carrying unknown portents with them. "But be warned. The truth you seek is no mere gossip. You search for something far beyond the grasp of many, where the path strays on a razor's edge. Tread carefully, or fall as so many others have. And when you reach the end… What then? Will the truth consume you gnawing at the edges of your psyche, burdened by forbidden knowledge until you are but a withered husk? Who can say?" Slipping a library card into the report, Hazama handed it back to a frozen Watanabe. "Return this by Sunday. Good luck on your search." And with that, she left, like mist in the light of the morning sun.

* * *

Smiling to herself, Kirara Hazama watched her two victim's reactions. Both of them were still frozen, their faces pale with fear. Good. It seemed that despite all these years, her nickname of  _ Couragetester  _ was still well-earned. Silently, she wondered: What strange fate had led these two on this quest? From his tone, it seemed like the smaller boy was earnest; He really did believe they were just looking for their teacher, Nagisa. But what would happen once they had uncovered the truth? Would they stay the same? Would anyone in 3-E?

Secretly, she mouthed a spell of luck.  _ May good fortune follow you along your journey... _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry christmas, even if it's a bit late! Hope you all are having a good time, whatever you're doing and wherever you are. It was also Karma's birthday, but I'll be honest, I'm the worst at doing birthday fanfics on time.
> 
> So, Hazama. Like most of Group 3, she had already gotten a canon job as a librarian. Since she's kind of a dark lady, I decided to go eerie for the narration. Portraying her as a creepy guide to deeper secrets was actually kinda fun. That being said, I'm worried I went a bit too far overboard.
> 
> Can anyone guess who's coming next? They have something to do with digital technology. (Side note: Maybe alliterative titles aren't as easy as I thought they'd be.)


	6. Tech Time! Tremors and Thoughts among Technology!

The address had taken them to a quiet portion of the city, near the technological district. One of the hallmarks of Kunugigaoka, this district was well known throughout all of Japan and even the world for it’s contributions to the fields of science and technology. Advances in light projection and laser technology, the creation of a new type of artificial blood, all of it originated from this district. There were darker rumors, too. Many claimed that the superbeing that terrorized the world originated from this area as well, though no official investigation was even undertaken. Despite this rumor, scientific progress continued nonetheless. 

Getting off the bus, the duo dropped off at the local mall. Almost immediately, their senses were violently assaulted by a cacophony of lights and sounds. Flashing advertisements were being broadcast on every surface imaginable, while a cheery pop song played on speakers above. Stretching her arms to the sky, Yuki took in the sights. "The tech district, huh? Can't see what all the hype's about." Cocking her head over, she looked at her companion. "So, where's this guy's house?"

Blinking twice to adjust himself to the flashing lights, Watanabe readjusted his glasses. "It's not actually a house… According to this flyer, there's a shop here that sells high-tech devices. Cellphones, Tablets, laptops… They're apparently beginning to rival the bigger companies out there."

Yuki laughed derisively. "What, do they have higher definition cameras on cellphones? We've got enough of those."

"I thought the same thing, actually. But it turns out, their phones really are better. Longer battery life, larger memory… I think I might need an upgrade soon." Watanabe muttered, looking through reviews on his phone.

Yuki shrugged. Her own phone was pushing six years now, it's screen riddled with cracks and chips. "All right, then. Let's go look at these fancy cell phones."

* * *

Nestled in the midst of the bustling mall was the store. Compared to all the surrounding stores, it stood out in terms of it’s sleek, simplistic design. Put on display were their latest designs for cellphones and tablets, their reflective surfaces shining in the light. Desktops were also set up below them, complete sets with monitors and keyboards. Above it all loomed a simplistic white crescent, their brand logo.

Walking inside, the first thing they noticed was a strange device placed right beside the entrance. It looked like a cellphone, if a cellphone were as tall as a person and stood upright. _Probably just a decoration,_ Watanabe thought. Curiously, he poked the screen, wondering if something would activate.

The screen flickered to life, revealing a strange looking girl. With her twintailed lilac hair and light blue eyes, It seemed as if she had stepped directly out of a magical girl anime. A cheery smile played on the screen in high definition, while a simulated voice came out through a hidden speaker. "Welcome to Silver Crescent Tech! My name is Ritsu, your helper program for today!"

"Whoa, neat. They've got one of those virtual assistant things." Yuki walked up with a curious smile, looking for a way to input a question. There weren't any keypads or even a panel for touchscreen access. Confused, she glanced over her shoulder at Watanabe. "Uh, where are the buttons to press?"

"If you have a question, don't be afraid to ask!"

"Oh, um…" Startled, Yuki went for a simple question. "What are you?"

"I am a digitalized help program, here to assist you!" Confetti effects popped all over the screen, as if to celebrate.

Yuki raised an eyebrow. If it was voice activated, did that mean she could ask it anything? Curiously, she decided to put it to the test. "Uh… Know any good games?"

"Megaman Battle Network is a classic!" 

"Ooh, ooh! I've heard of this! Yuki, let me try something." Watanabe stepped forward confidently. Crossing his arms, he gave an evil smirk. " _Ahem…_ This sentence is false!"

The program gave him an unimpressed look. "Liar's Paradox. The statement can neither be true or false."

"Wow, it's good." Watanabe stepped back, impressed. _How many preprogrammed messages could a single helper program have?_ Focusing once again, Watanabe tried to get back on track. "Listen, could we talk to an employee somewhere here? We need to ask about something."

"Paging the director!" The screen flickered off, replacing itself with a waiting logo.

"No, wait-" Watanabe began, but the terminal had already shut off. Putting a palm to his forehead, he groaned. "Oh, we're in so much trouble…"

The screen flickered back on. Pointing a finger, Ritsu directed them towards a door behind the counter. "He's waiting for you in the back room. Enjoy your stay!"

* * *

The first thing Watanabe noticed was the rush of cold air. The drone of air-conditioners were chilling the air inside, even colder than the mall’s atmosphere. Dim silver lights illuminated the room, glinting off of hundreds of thousands of metal surfaces. All across the room, mechanical parts such as circuit boards, cooling fans, and wiring were haphazardly placed all throughout the room, ready to be snatched up at arm's length. Stored in countless metal cabinets were even more parts, all tucked away in plastic containers. And in the midst of it all lurked the tinkerer. His hair was white, like fresh snow after a raging blizzard. Strange yellow eyes tracked their every movement, carefully observing them. Behind him, lit by a singular desk lamp, was an unfinished prototype of some sort. "Who are you two?" His voice was blunt, with no intonations.

Nervously, Watanabe tugged on his shirt collar. He wasn't sure if it was the cold air or his nervousness, but chills were beginning to run down his back. "S-Sorry for interrupting you, sir. Miss Hazama, the librarian, said that there was a person here who was encoding yearbooks into digital format?"

"Yes."

"Are they here?"

"Yes."

"Can we see them?"

"No."

Covertly, Yuki looked at the desk behind the tinkerer. Aside from the prototype, there was a high-tech looking desktop, filled with endless lines of technological gibberish that was probably not the yearbook. "Look, mister. I'm sure you're real busy with your hard drives and extra bitspace things, so if we could just have the yearbook files, we'll be on our way."

"Why do you need them?"

Yuki rolled her eyes, stuffing her hands into her pockets. "We're looking for a teacher of ours, so we figured we'd be checking old class lists for him.” Yuki fixed a stare down on the technician. “Even if you say no, those files are going to go public anyways."

"I know. Give me your USB." He held his hand out expectantly.

Watanabe and Yuki looked at each other, each expecting the other to pull out a USB from their pocket. An awkward silence passed, both of them waiting for each other. Yuki facepalmed. Scratching his head, Watanabe glanced away from the tinkerer's piercing glare. "Well, you see…"

"You two didn't bring one." The mechanic's eyes narrowed. Pulling out a USB from a pouch of his, he inserted it into a nearby socket. "File transfer will take twenty minutes."

"What are we supposed to do until then?"

"Not my problem." White strands of hair swayed to and fro, like grass in a meadow. A quick flick of his hand shut off the monitor, while his eyes stared them down. "What you’re planning to do with these files is, though. Why are you investigating your teacher?”

"We don't have to tell you anything." Yuki huffed, clearly bristling at the man's blunt attitude. In response, the man shrugged, turning away and flicking the monitor back on. The blatant display of disrespect only annoyed her further. In an attempt to get back his attention, Yuki shouted. "We're looking for the end class! There, you happy?"

"End Classes." He muttered the words like they were a curse. Within his eyes, a dormant rage slumbered, like the embers of an unextinguished flame. "End Classes were the bottom levels of a school, where all the worst students were put. They were grouped so the school wouldn't have to waste resources on them. Only one teacher, no teaching aids, and no access to the main campus' supplies. In short, they were outcasts left to die."

"That's terrible…" Watanabe muttered. Why would a school ever want it's students to learn less? 

"It was. The practice was outlawed at the end of the 2015 school year."

Suspiciously, Yuki observed the man’s behavior. Aside from his darkened tone, he was still as stoic as ever. "Why are you telling us this?" 

"To warn you. Many schools chose to expunge data on their End Classes, to try and avoid lawsuits. You won't find everything in here."

"Avoid lawsuits? They escaped, just like that?!" Yuki growled dangerously. Even with her mistrust of the tinkerer, she still felt a surge of rage growing within her. They should have been given a fair shot, at least. If they were idiots and failed, then sure, punish them. But what kind of justice was dooming them before they even got a chance? 

Very subtly, the man began to shake. His breathing had begun to intensify, thought it was still carefully measured. It would have been impossible for either of them to notice if Yuki had not been paying as close attention as she did. "I know a principal did. As soon as his school came under investigation, he closed it down and fled. My classmates deserved more than that…”

Watanabe leapt out of his seat. Staring at him with a shocked expression, he yelled out. "Wait a minute… You were part of an end class?"

The atmosphere was shattered. The tinkerer became motionless once more, like water freezing into cold ice. "I've said enough." The fury in his eyes was gone, replaced by a steady stare like cold moonlight.

Silence threatened to envelop the room once more. Before it could, though, Watanabe had already begun looking around the room curiously, craning his head to and fro. His eyes were caught by a glint of steel, hiding in a glass cabinet right above their reach. It was difficult to tell, but it looked like a metal box with wheels attached. "Is that a toy car?"

"It's a _drone_." A hint of irritation slipped into his voice. "A radio controlled combat vehicle."

"Really? Can we see it?" He craned his neck even further, trying to catch a better look of it. 

"No."

"Well then, I guess I just don't believe you." Seeing a crack in his facade, Yuki chose to press her advantage. "All we’ve got to go on is your word. And since you don't want to show us proof, I guess you really aren't the owner of a cool mini tank."

"Wait right there." The mechanic practically leaped out of his chair. Without a single word, he swept past them, reaching up into the cabinet. Gently, he lifted the car out, then settled it onto the cemented floor. Alongside it, he held a complicated looking remote control.

Curious, Watanabe bent down to look even closer. Instead of a car, calling it a miniature tank would have been more accurate. With a miniature barrel, four sets of wheels, and a fisheye camera lens, it oddly reminded Watanabe of both the Mars Rovers and old tanks. It even had camouflage paint on. Turning it's turret, the tank took aim. 

A sharp breeze whistled in Yuki's ear. Behind her, a tiny plink rang out, followed by a plastic shell rolling out from under her feet. Shivering slightly, Yuki pushed her seat away from the tank.. "Jeez, careful where you aim that thing!" _That would have hurt like hell..._

His facade hadn’t broken, but the technician had let a hint of pride slip into his tone. Controlling the drone from a distance, he watched it traverse the smooth stone floor. "The _Itona C_ boasts all terrain movement, a fish-eye lens camera, firepower equal to any modern pistol, and all silenced as well."

"Whoa…" Watanabe had heard of drone-building competitions, where people from all across the country competed to create the ultimate drone. But until now, he had never realized how powerful they could become. "Wait, _Itona C_? Why is it named that?"

Yuki crossed her arms, following up with her own question. "Yeah, what's an Itona?"

"I'm Itona. Horibe Itona." Itona crossed his arms, letting a small breath fall. With a few button pressed, the drone drove back to him. "In roman numerals, C stands for 100. This drone took a hundred prototypes to reach this far. A hundred failures, for this success."

"A hundred failures?" Yuki frowned. One failure was bad enough to deal with. She could barely imagine the sting of a hundred.

Taking the drone back into his hands, Itona tapped the lens on it gently. "Even a hundred failures are worth it, as long as you get the kill." 

"A hundred failures…" Watanabe stared at the drone in awe. Suddenly, a question wormed itself into his mind. "So what happened to the first prototype?"

Itona looked away from them. "A weasel got it. Then a horde of angry girls trashed it completely."

"A horde of angry girls?" Yuki asked, confused. A weasel she understood, but why would a horde of angry girls smash such a cool drone?

For the first time since they met, Itona showed visible signs of discomfort. Glancing at Yuki, he quickly set the drone back on the top shelf. "Don't ask questions." Pulling the USB out of its socket, he handed it back to the two. "Here are your files. Now go." 

"But, wai-" A glare froze Watanabe, cutting his sentence off. Sensing the atmosphere quickly turning hostile, Yuki quickly decided to bail. Grabbing Watanabe, both of them made a very unceremonious exit.

* * *

With the departure of the two children, a blanket of silence fell over the workshop. Letting the tension leave his body, Itona let out a small breath. Even after so much time, it seemed that his past still found a way to catch him yet again. Crossing his arms, Itona spoke out, though it seemed nobody was there to listen. "You're supposed to be a secret, Ritsu."

The screen of the desktop darkened, a visual glitch flickering through the screen. "But not forever!" Ritsu popped up on the screen, overriding all other programs. "I was programmed for collaboration. Discovering new personalities is an essential part of my code!" A question mark background appeared behind her. "Besides, why would you have installed the terminal in there, if I wasn't supposed to use it?"

"So you would stop bothering me while I worked." Itona let out an annoyed huff. The terminal was actually a compromise between them. She got to interact with customers and entertain herself, and he could finally get some peace and quiet. "We aren't under the government or Shiro anymore. Why do you insist on hanging around?"

"Talking to the others by text or call gets boring after a while. I want to see some real faces, like yours!" Ritsu smiled, using the webcam to get a good look at Itona'a face. It was never any fun, hacking into a device and watching others. What was best was interacting with people and engaging conversations, even if she had to pretend to be a helper program.

"I liked your stoic personality better." Itona sighed once more. "Did you do as I asked?"

"Yes. The Kunugigaoka files have been temporarily corrupted. If they attempt to open it, all they'll see is an error message." Ritsu simulated an expression of curiosity. "But why did you want that?"

"Someone should have a carefree childhood. Even if I didn't." Unconsciously, he clenched his bandana, feeling the mesh strands on it. 

"I disagree. My programming constantly searches for improvements, ways to improve success rates. Discovery is what simulates happiness in me. Doesn’t it do the same for you?"

"If only humans were as easy as a gear cog or a line of code." Closing his eyes, Itona stuffed his hands back into his pockets. "Go do whatever your analytics say is best. Just don't reveal yourself to them."

"I won't let you down!" Ritsu smiled brightly, before shutting down her localized program. Taking the desktop back, Itona wondered what she was doing now. Most likely, she was on the internet, retrieving information for her next maneuver. Shrugging to himself, Itona rebooted the data collection algorithm. Even if he couldn't directly influence them, at least someone else could keep an eye on them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya. Happy new year, and Happy Belated Birthday to both Ritsu and Asano Jr! (This chapter was planned to come out 2 days earlier, but this chapter underwent some very heavy rewrites. Like, half the chapter got nuked levels of rewriting.)
> 
> Anyways... I bet you guys weren't expecting a duo chapter, huh? Both Itona and Ritsu were transferees, commonly associated with technology as well. Unfortunately, none of them really get significant moments to interact with each other, which is a shame. I may have had to change Itona's canon job a tiny bit, which is something I'd like to avoid in the future. Ritsu... doesn't have a job, but she seems like a people person to me. With Ritsu manning the store and Itona working on breakthroughs, it's the perfect duo! (Take that, and this whole story, whatever way you will, romantically or platonically. As for me, I probably won't officially confirm or deny any ships in this story. Ya'll know what I ship anyways, if you check my other stories.)
> 
> Oh, one last thing. I usually only reply to comments whenever I update, so I don't accidentally spoil the next chapters. (That, and I'm REALLY lazy.) All comments are appreciated, and I'll reply to everyone eventually!
> 
> Next up: I wonder where we're headed next?


	7. Return to the Ruins: Part 1

A few days had passed since their visit. Soon enough, the weekend rolled around once more, freeing the duo up from any schoolwork or detention. Stretching her arms, Yuki yawned, bored out of her mind. Watanabe had taken the USB as soon as they had left, promising to look through it as soon as possible. Ever since then, there had been no news. Pulling out her phone, she decided to pester her friend again. "Hey, Watanabe! Did you find anything?"

A familiar timid voice crackled through the phone. "Hi, Yuki. It's actually a funny story… First, I tried running a word search on the folder, but every time I tried, I received an error. Next, I tried reading through each individual folder. I gave up after the second yearbook. After that, I tried using the word search on each individual folder."

"...and? How far did you get?"

"Pretty far. Maybe half the list? Here's the funny thing, though. Out of all the files, there was only one that was corrupted. No matter what I tried, I couldn't get it to open."

"Huh, that's kinda weird. What school got glitched?"

"Some place called Kunugigaoka Junior High School… I didn't even know our city had an official school."

"Me either. Something must've happened to it." Yuki scratched her head. The name sounded familiar, but she had no idea why. "Well, that's where we're headed next!"

"Hold on. I haven't even finished checking the rest of the files. Maybe we should wait a bit."

"C'mon, you'll never know until you try!"  _ Plus, I'm super bored, _ Yuki thought to herself. 

There was a pause from the phone. "A-all right… Let's see."

* * *

Wavering sunlight fell from the cloudy skies, illuminating the ruined husk of a building. The decrepit ruins of a school still stood here, like the bones of a deceased giant. It's windows were dark and dusty, it's doorway ruined by the passage of time. Still, even the school was dwarfed by the massive mountain beside it, like an acorn in the presence of an oak tree.

Making her way past the crumbled walls, Yuki hopped off into the overgrown lawns. Ivy vines and moss had torn down this wall a long time ago, leaving gaps for people to pass through here and there. Confidently walking past the ruins, Yuki grinned like she had seen a long-lost friend. "Whoa, I recognize this place!"

Shaking dewdrops off his shoes, Watanabe did his best to keep up. "You do?"

Yuki bounded forward even faster now, eager to see her old playground. "Yeah! When we moved here 4 years ago, a bunch of friends and I would hang out here. We called it the  _ Ghost School _ , and we'd sneak outta class to hang out here."

Watanabe stopped dead in his tracks. "Ghost School?"

"Yeah, cause it looked like ghosts lived in it. Relax, we never saw anything." Stopping in her tracks for a moment, Yuki admired the massive husk, a hidden cove for stowaways like her. "Funny thing is, mom and dad always told me never to come here, but they never explained why."

"Maybe we should finish looking through those files first…" Watanabe looked at the ruined gate, which was looking more and more tempting.

"What, no! C'mon, I'll show you around!" Yuki bounded onwards, leaving him behind.

* * *

Dust motes floated around the air, illuminated by whichever beams of sunlight poked through the ruins. The hallways were filled with an eerie emptiness, fallen tiles and cracked walls constructing this desolate road. 

Stepping past a broken doorframe, Yuki entered one of many classrooms. Hung only by a single nail, a faded sign called  _ 3-C _ threatened to fall at any moment. The old room was exactly as she remembered it: Abandoned and ruined. An old desk still stood in the front of the room, thick layers of dust covering it. Several chairs were flung into the corner of the room, where they lay broken. Off in a corner, a sturdy old closet stood solemnly, the only untouched memoir of this ruined place. Dropping down onto the dusty floor, Yuki looked around, smiling. "And this is where we hung out."

Dusting off the floor, Watanabe sat down beside her. He would have taken a chair, but it seemed that all of them had been flung into a corner of the room as junk. "Huh… That's… What did you do here, anyways?"

Yuki shrugged. "Kiddy stuff. Sometimes we played baseball in the lawn, sometimes we played hide and seek." A small grin crept across her face. "Sometimes, we’d pretend we were teachers, and yell at each other for fun.” 

"Wait. Do you hear something?" Yuki wasn't imagining it. The distant patters of... something echoed through the hallway. Sinking into a crawl, Yuki snuck out to the other wall, peeking through the dusty window. 

The footsteps stopped. A gruff voice rang out, echoing through the empty hallways. "We're here already. We're gonna do a quick sweep, see if the previous teams missed anything." 

"I'm tellin' ya. You're not findin' anything here." Another voice called back, higher pitched in tone. Breathing softly, Watanabe peeked his head through the window. Letting out a tiny gasp, he shot his head back, his face pale and trembling.

"You guys heard that?" The first voice called out again. Instinctively, both of the children froze, a terrified chill beating in their chests. "Probably just an animal of some kind. But just to be safe, initiate standard protocol. Heads low, guns out, and stick to your partner."

Yuki tried to shake off the terror, but it clung to hsr like a deadly vice. Putting on a brave face, she tried to rally her friend. "Looks like we're not gonna have much time here. C'mon, let's head up now."

"Wha-Yuki, they have  _ guns _ . We need to get out of here before they catch us." Watanabe shook his head, his eyes filled with panic. 

Keeping her eyes on the doorway, Yuki whispered stubbornly. "If they get to the principal's office before us, we might not ever get a second chance. It's now or never."

"We don't even know if that's the right yearbook!"

"And what if we guess wrong? Can you really live with that?" Yuki crossed her arms, waiting for a reply. 

"Fine. What do we do?" Watanabe whispered, trying to keep his voice steady. 

"Not enough time. You'll have to trust me."

* * *

Crouching down beneath the ruined wall, Yuki took a deep breath. She could feel her heart beating in her chest, drumming inside her in erratic rhythm. Shifting nervously, they cowered beneath the ruins like mice ready to flee. 

The footsteps echoed out once more, growing fainter and fainter in their noise. Peeking out from behind the glass, Yuki watched carefully as the figures slowly advanced, dark shapes flitting in and out of her vision. Each room was being checked by the men- It was only a matter of time before they were caught. Yuki grimaced, pursing her lips in thought. They had to move quickly, or fail. But how could they move through the hallway without being seen? Alone, it might be possible, but both of them couldn’t make it unless...

Yuki suppressed a gasp. Unless the hallway was empty! If the searchers passed them by and moved on to the next floor, they could probably make it to the stairs unseen. After that, they could run up to the top floor, search the office, and escape before getting caught! All they needed to do was hide.

No time to hesitate. Grabbing Watanabe, Yuki shoved him under the wooden desk, motioning for him to freeze. Hearing the footsteps draw even closer, Yuki slid underneath the pile of mangled chairs, hoping that they would just be passed over. For a few tense moments, all she could hear was her breath, stifled out of fear.

The footsteps were here. A polished shoe stepped onto the floor, followed by a second. It's movements were cautious, slowly shifting. Sunlight shone in through the windows, reflecting off the barrel of his gun. Clenching her fist, Yuki struggled to stay as still as possible. Her heart was pounding even harder now, hammering in her chest like a drum.

Slowly, almost ponderously, the footsteps walked over to the closet. Suddenly, it's doors were flung open, it's contents rifled through. Cautiously, Yuki gave herself a small sigh of relief. The closet was the only thing in the room. Surely he would just search it and leave? But no, the footsteps were moving once more.  _ Moving towards the desk!  _ Yuki realized in shock.

A thousand thoughts pulsed through Yuki's brain, all struggling to break free. She needed to act now, before he got caught. But what could she do, one person against so many?  _ It doesn't matter! _ She needed to do something, anything to stop him! She tried to move, but her limbs had frozen in fear.  _ C'mon! Move,Yuki, Move! _

"Terasaka! We don't have all day, so get moving!"

The gruff voice called back. "All right, all right. This room's clear!" Footsteps sprinted out, echoes fading into the distance.

Both hiders remained still, waiting for the dreadful footsteps to finally disappear. As soon as the coast was clear, Yuki crawled out of the pile, rushing over to Watanabe. Extending a hand, she helped him back up. "You all right?"

"Y-yeah… I'll be fine." With concentrated effort, he rose back up to his feet. "T-Thanks for hiding me. We'd have been caught if not for you."

"Yeah." Averting her eyes, Yuki felt a gnawing shame in her stomach. They would have been caught, if it wasn't for sheer luck. She nodded once, pushing the thought aside. "C'mon, let's hurry."

* * *

Their rush to the principal's office was swift, but tense. While the men searched the fourth floor, Watanabe and Yuki snuck up to the top floor, carefully darting into the office unnoticed.

The sunlight here was brighter, filtered as it was by the dusty windows. Compared to all the other rooms, the office was stripped completely barren of any decorations. Only a solitary desk and chair were left in the room, covered upon layers of dust. Running over, Yuki quickly rifled through it's contents, quickly pulling out a dusty yearbook from it's compartment. "Got it, let's g-"

A gun clicked.

"Who are you two?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, Kunugigaoka Academy has seen better days, huh? It'd be a pretty old building by now, especially with nobody using it after the events of the finale. Honestly, while it's a bit sad, it's pretty realistic that nobody would come enroll after the big controversy around it. However, it's still not as interesting as what happened to it's former principal, who's now-
> 
> Oh, yeah, the kids are being held at gunpoint. That's a thing too, I guess.
> 
> Next chapter, and the actual student spotlight, comes tomorrow! (Or the day after, depends on how much free time I have. College is back and it's out for blood.)


	8. Return to the Ruins: Part 2

Each second passing by felt like an eternity to them. Slowly, the investigators raised their hands, dropping the yearbook back onto the desk. A surge of bitterness coursing through her, Yuki bitterly grit her teeth.  _ After all that, we were still caught? _

Cautiously, the man aimed his gun at both of them. He was a large man, dressed similarly to a bodyguard. His brown hair was close-cropped, remnants of blond dye fading away. His stern gaze was matched only by the steady aim of his pistol, the barrel pointed directly at them. "I'll ask it again. Who are you two?" Sunlight shone off the barrel of the gun, illuminating the inscription on it:  _ S.A.A.U.S.O. _

A flash of recognition broke through Watanabe's fear. That acronym… It was familiar.  _ Where have I seen those letters before?  _ Suddenly, a flash of realization hit him. "S.A.A.U.S.O! Yuki, look at the pattern on his gun! It's just like the one Mister Yoshida had on his knife."

The man's eyes hardened. He swung his pistol around, aiming directly at Watanabe. "Yoshida? Taisei Yoshida?" His knuckles paled as he gripped his gun harder.

_ He knows Mr. Yoshida?  _ Yuki's mind began to rush once more, several thoughts all clamoring for her attention.  _ If he knows Mr. Yoshida, then maybe he'd know about…  _ "E-Class!" 

Perplexed, the man lowered his gun. Falling silent for a moment, he stared at the two with no small amount of confusion. "E.. Class? Who exactly are the two of you, and what the hell are you doing in this safety hazard?" 

"Tsuji Yuki and Satoshi Watanabe, of Paradise High." Yuki cautiously stepped to the side, covering up the yearbook behind her. "And you are?"

"Ryouma Terasaka, a government agent." His answer was brief, but it carried with it a tone of wariness. His eyes narrowing, he regarded the two of them with a suspicious glance. "You didn't answer my question."

_ Was he another member of the End class?  _ Watanabe's mind was now filled with equal parts curiosity and fear. Before his courage completely failed him, he managed to stammer out a question. “Do… Do you know a man named Shiota? Nagisa Shiota?”

The man’s eyes flashed for a moment. Growing even more suspicious, he shifted his feet on the floor, as if preparing to move quickly. "Yeah. Why?”

“He’s our teacher.” Cautiously, Yuki motioned for him to lower his weapon. “It’s a long story, so if you could put your gun away?” 

Frowning, the man lowered his pistol. Instead of returning it to it’s holster, however, he chose to keep it within his grasp. “No."

Yuki took a deep breath. “Well, it all began a few weeks ago…”

* * *

The sun was now high in the sky when Yuki finally finished her tale. Inside of the abandoned office, all three of them had settled down, more or less. Crossing his arms, the agent was casually leaning on a nearby wall, his eyes still fixed on them. His pistol was now safely holstered, his body language more relaxed. Nodding once, Ryouma Terasaka spoke again in a gruff tone. "You've been on your own little adventure, huh?"

"Yeah, and we're still not done." Yuki huffed, feeling a surge of frustration bubble inside of her.  _ How long is this gonna take, anyways? _

Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Watanabe shifted in place. His heartbeats had finally calmed down, allowing him to breathe normally again. “Wait… Do you believe us?”

“Yeah, I think I do. I've done crazier beforehand, believe me." Terasaka gave a small shrug. “Plus, I got a tip from my friend that I might be seeing you two soon. I didn’t think it’d be here, though.” 

Watanabe pointed at the gun nervously. “Were you going to shoot us?”

“No, course’ not.” Terasaka put his palm to the barrel of his gun. Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger. Almost instantaneously, a pink pellet shot into his hand, smoking slightly. "See? They’re pellets. They’re not gonna hurt unless you aim it at someone’s eye or something.”

“But what if someone ambushed you?" Yuki asked, remembering the panic she felt only a few hours ago.

“Oh, we have tasers for those.” Terasaka waved his hand dismissively, before catching sight of the kids' pale faces. "Kids like you, though? I’d probably have just dropped you off at the nearest police station.” 

Letting out a small sigh, Watanabe laughed nervously. "It's a good thing we're kids, huh?" Standing up, he slowly began to edge towards the exit. "W-Well, Mister Terasaka sir, it's been nice meeting you, but we won't hold you here any longer."

An arm jotted out, blocking off Watanabe's escape. Leaning against the doorway, Terasaka blocked off his escape. His stance was filled with a grim resolve; He wasn't going to budge easily. "That being said… I can’t let you leave here with any evidence. Give me that yearbook.”

“No." Yuki rose up as well, locking the three of them in a showdown. Cautiously, she took the yearbook from Watanabe, in case she needed to act quickly.

Stuffing his hands into his pockets, Terasaka let out a tiny sigh. "Look, I know you’ve got questions, lot’s of them. And, honestly, I don’t blame ya. If I were in your shoes, I’d also be pretty suspicious myself.” He stood tall, staring down on them like an old veteran. “But you've got to learn. Just cause someone's keeping a secret doesn't mean they're out to get you."

"But even if they weren't, doesn't everyone deserve to know the truth?" Watanabe stepped back, a sudden flare of boldness blooming inside him. 

"You don't need to know everything, kid. Just as long as you know who to follow and who to lead." His gaze softened, but his arm continued to block the doorway. "Look, I'll cut a deal with you two. I can't let you two outta here with any evidence. It'd be a lot of trouble for me, and even worse for you two if you got caught. Instead, meet me by Muramatsu's tomorrow. I'll tell you what I can."

“Yuki?” Watanabe tensed up, looking to Yuki for her next move. What would they do next? 

Yuki’s eyes turned to the holster. Even with the fake gun, the agent would still have a taser, as well as backup somewhere inside the building. There wasn’t any clever trick they could pull, or any miraculous techniques to stun him. In the end, despite everything, they were trapped anyways. "Fine…" Bitterly, Yuki conceded, handing the yearbook over. “Not much we can do, is there?”

“Life’s like that.” With a rough pat on the back, Terasaka pushed them through the doorway. “See ya tomorrow.” 

* * *

Off in the horizon, the sky was colored a blazing orange, the last splashes of color before the onset of night. The sun sank down behind the mountain, light gradually fading into the peaceful night. The rustling of the grasses surrounded them, brought by the cold breeze.

It was quieter than usual. Concerned, Watanabe looked towards his companion, cautiously breaking the silence. "Is there a problem, Yuki?"

Yuki looked away. Her head was turned downwards, away from the dimming skies. "It's nothing."

The sound of footsteps began to hasten. Walking faster, Watanabe went up to his friend, trying to catch a better look of her expression. "Are you sure? It's just… You're usually more talkative than this."

Stuffing her hands into her pockets, Yuki seemed to shrink a little bit. "It's been a while since we've found anything, you know? All this effort, and we're still no closer to finding out the secret."

"That's true. But I think we're getting closer. We've already seen Shiota-Sensei's school in person, so that counts for something… Right?" Watanabe looked back towards the sunset. The old ruins didn't look so threatening from this far away.

"I guess. Still doesn't feel like much."

A small smile formed on Watanabe's lips. "If you want, we can look at other conspiracies instead." He put on a serious voice, speaking in a low tone like a secret agent uncovering a deadly plot. "Research data implies that pet stores all over Japan are planning to overthrow the government, using an army of trained dogs!”

From deep within shadow, a small grin began to form. Seeing her begin to crack up, Watanabe continued the assault. "The pet stores have been arming themselves, breeding an army of dogs within our sewers, biding until the perfect moment to strike!”

Yuki stifled a small laugh. " _ Pfft-  _ You can't be serious!"

Maintaining his deadly poker face, Watanabe unleashed his secret weapon. “And that’s not the worst part. Rumor has it that the man behind this all… Is secretly a man-pig hybrid!”

Yuki burst out laughing. Raising a hand, she sued for mercy. "All right, all right, I give! We'll keep hunting the conspiracy that actually makes sense." Catching her breath, she let the smile on her face remain. "Thanks, you know? I needed that."

"No problem!" 

* * *

Bonus scene:

The tinkling of a bell resounded through the store, followed by the distinct sound of two footsteps. A familiar voice called out from the restaurant’s counter, demanding attention. "Evening, Muramatsu."

Wiping a glass, Muramatsu peeked his head through the window, grinning widely. "Terasaka! It's been forever! What brings you around here?"

"A lot of things." The government agent let out a large sigh, unsure if this was really the right choice. "Listen… Did you ever meet two kids, one boy, one girl, both of them asking about Nagisa?"

"Hm? Yeah. They were his students, weren't they?" 

"Yep." Averting his eyes, Terasaka winced at what he was about to do.  _ Here goes all my tough guy cred. _ "How hard would it be to get the old group here tomorrow?"

"Shouldn’t be too hard, especially with our old gang boss himself calling." Muramatsu grinned slyly, seeing their tough leader finally admit to some form of sentimentality. "What's with the new attitude? You were never much good at reminiscing."

"Can't keep much from ya, huh?" Terasaka shrugged, a small grin creeping up on his face. "Those kids of Nagisa… I'm thinkin' it'd be a shame if they never met any other members of E-Class. Even if it's only the gang, you know?"

"I get it. Let's save the catch-up for tomorrow, then?"

"Tomorrow."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: Both this chapter and the previous one were actually drafted at the same time! These two chapters were originally meant to be released one day apart, but IRL complications (I got distracted) caused this to delay another day. If you're wondering why I didn't just post these two at the same time... I wanted to try doing a dramatic cliffhanger, but I'm not sure it turned out all that well.
> 
> Anyways, Terasaka! His canon job is being an apprentice politician, as his start in politics. I decided to expand this role a teeny-tiny bit, and gave him a role much like Karasuma-Sensei's. His boss works under the defense bureau, and more specifically the sector which deals with fallout from the super-being incident. So alongside the apprentice jobs, Terasaka occasionally has to visit super-being related areas and report back. It's not MUCH of a role, as it's been seven whole years and everyone's settled down at this point, but it's a step into the world of politics. (I have no idea how much of this is actually making it into the story. I just wanted to give Terasaka a better job than "generic intern", ok?)
> 
> Next chapter's coming out same time as usual.


	9. Recollection Time: Return to the Ramen Shop!

Morning broke over the horizon, rising up over the buildings far off in the distance. The skies were clear, shades of night slowly giving way to the morning light. Leaning on a sign, Yuki shut her eyes, letting the wind sweep past her. Here she was again, waiting by the bus stop, waiting for Watanabe so they could finally set out once more. Within the midst of tranquility, only one thought came to mind.  _ This is boring. _

Finally, after what felt like several lifetimes, she saw him running up the road. "Hey, Watanabe. You're looking… Uh… Really prepared there."

"Yep!" Hoisting a massive backpack over his shoulder, Watanabe began to narrate the contents of it in detail. "I've got a voice recorder, a notepad, the USB list of yearbooks, a compilation of evidence, a backup recorder…"

Yuki raised both her arms up, surrendering. "Whoa there, no need to tell me everything you've prepared." Turning her face towards the rising sun, shd felt a surge of anticipation coursing through her. "Think today's the day?"

A grin seeping onto his face as well, Watanabe looked towards the open road, waiting for a bus to finally arrive. "I sure hope so!"

* * *

Making their way back to the intersection was no trouble at all for them. Walking down the concrete roads, Yuki dully noticed the sparse crowds around them. It was the morning of a weekday, so not many people were visiting at the moment. Making their way through the cityscape, the duo arrived at a… closed restaurant? The doors and windows were shut, at least. Before they could ponder it’s meaning, though, a voice called out to them.

"Yo.” Hanging around the restaurant’s front, the government agent waved them over. Compared to yesterday, he had changed out of his official’s uniform for something more casual. A loose button shirt hung over his large frame, matching with his jeans. Strapped to his hips was a singular holster, a gun hanging from the side. Overall, he looked more like a street thug than a government agent. 

"Hello, Mister Terasaka sir! Thank you for sparing the time to help us!" Watanabe bowed as a sign of respect.

"Whoa, jeez. Just call me Terasaka." Awkwardly wincing, Terasaka motioned for him to get back up. "Makin' me sound like an old man, there." Digging into his pockets for a key, the man unlocked the restaurant's door. "Look, I've been feeling pretty guilty about that whole situation yesterday, so I've prepared a little surprise-"

"Don't worry, sir, we know you didn't-" 

Suddenly, a hand clamped over his mouth. " _ Sshhh!" _ Laughing nervously, Yuki tried to act normal while having a hand clamped over someone else’s mouth. "Haha, sorry, I'm sure he means very well. Anyways, what was that about a surprise?"

"Right…" Terasaka narrowed his eyes. "Anyways, I've prepared a little surprise for you two. Come inside!"

* * *

The old restaurant was mostly the same as they remembered it, if not emptier than before. The wooden floorboards creaked with their every step, comfortable lights shining from up above. What drew their eyes was not the restaurant itself, though, but the people. Off to the side, five people were clustered around a single table with nine chairs, the only ones inside. That alone wasn’t strange. What was strange, though, was that she recognized everyone here.  _ Yoshida the mechanic, Muramatsu the chef, Hara the Baker, the scary librarian lady, and the cellphone guy…  _ It wasn’t just their appearance that astounded her, though. There was an ease to them that made her pause, the kind of ease that only long-time friends shared. 

Muramatsu was the first one to spot them. Waving them over, he pushed two chairs out for the both of them. " _ Kishishishi.  _ So, you two finally arrived. Take a seat over here.” 

"Um, what's going on?" Watanabe was just as bewildered at her. He took a long look at each of the adults, trying to figure out if he had met all of these strange people before.

"You didn't explain before bringing them inside? Really?" Dropping an emptied glass onto the wooden table, Yoshida gave Terasaka a very unimpressed look. "Well, you two were searching for members of the End Class, right? Mr. Important Government Agent here decided it'd be a good idea to drag us all away from work just to meet you two."

"Yoshida, be nice!" Hara gently chided her seatmate. "Never mind him, dears. He's just a bit grouchy today. Anyways, welcome!"

"Oh, um… Thanks?" Yuki took her seat, uncertain on how to respond. Her gaze darted across the table, checking if there was anybody they hadn’t met before.  _ No luck. _ "Can we ask questions?"

"Sure." The scary lady nodded.  _ Her name was Hazama… Right? _ "We make no promises for answering truthfully."

"It would have been more effective if you didn't mention that." The silver-haired mechanic responded.  _ And that one's… Itona. _

Doubtfully, Watanabe nodded. Taking a pen into his hands, he decided to go for a simple question. "Well, what exactly is Shiota-Sensei?"

"Your teacher." Itona's response was swift, like a blunt strike to the head. "It’s hard to forget when you two mentioned it every chance you could.”

"You know what he means! What's his secret? The thing that's allowing him to do all those crazy stunts?" 

Rolling his eyes, Yoshida cracked a cocky grin. "That's a tough one to explain. Lend me that gun, Terasaka?" Shrugging, Terasaka slid it over the table. In one smooth motion, Yoshida grabbed it and swung it towards an unknown target.. Closing an eye, he steadied his breath, his eyes focused on something in the distance. A half-second later, and the gun jerked back.  _ Plink!  _ A white pellet knocked a small plastic cup off a table, far away on the other side of the room. Bouncing away, it rolled back under a stunned Yuki's feet.

Rolling his eyes, Itona turned back to his drink. "Chiba's still better."

Letting a small huff of annoyance out, Yoshisa slid the gun back over the table."Gimme a break, I haven't had to fire a gun for several years." 

_ Rusty? He was barely aiming and still managed to hit the shot! What’s more, they’re treating it like it was no big deal!  _ The investigators were stunned, their mouths hanging open. With his pen clattering out of his hands, Watanabe was only able to stammer out a few words. "W… Wha?"

Seeing the look on their faces, Yoshida let out an annoyed sigh. “It’s always the same reaction, huh? Terasaka, you’d better do the explanation this time."

“Yeah, yeah.” Terasaka waved his hand dismissively. "You two already know what an E-class is, so I’m just gonna skip that part. Low grades, kicked outta the top classes, you get the drill. Likely, we’d have ended up as your bog-standard dropout class if not for three teachers. One of them had a pretty weird idea. He thought that if we students were taught to fight alongside the other lessons, we'd be doing better in class. So he gave us a bunch of guns, taught us how to use them, and here we are now!” Turning to the others, Terasaka crossed his arms smugly. “How’s that for a recap?”

“You could have added a little reverence for our previously suffering souls…” Hazama dryly noted.

"Wait… So can you all do that faint stun thing?" Yuki asked, only to be met with confused stares. "Y'know, that thing where he sticks his finger in a guy's neck and he goes all limp?" She poked a finger onto her neck, miming a limp noodle.

"He did WHAT?!" Hara began to dig through her purse, shaking her head disapprovingly. "That's no way to treat a child, and especially not his student! I'm going to call him right now and-"

"Wait wait wait! The guy was really big and a massive jerk, he had it coming, so hold on a minute!" Panicking, Yuki waved her arms around wildly. "We're trying to keep this whole thing a secret, so please don't tell him." 

"Too late." Itona stuffed something back into his pocket, presumably his phone.

"WHA-"

"Just kidding." A tiny curl crew on his upper lip, like a small chink in a cold, stony facade.

Muramatsu gasped, his eyes opening wide. "Whoa, Itona! Was that… A joke?!" Slapping Itona on the back, Muramatsu gave him a big thumbs up. "You've really grown up so much."

"Yeah, sure, make fun of the only two kids in the room, that's fair." Yuki crossed her arms, sulking. Unexpectedly, she perked up again. "If you guys got to shoot guns and stuff, are we gonna learn that too? 

Uneasily, the adults looked at each other. Terasaka was the first one to speak. Tugging on his shirt collar, he glanced at the rest of his gang. "Well, whaddya guys think? Is Nagisa that kind of guy?"

Yoshida shrugged. "We didn't know the guy all that well. Maybe he would?"

"It would be a fitting conclusion…" Hazama dryly noted, a small hint of interest in her tone. 

"Yes, but Nagisa could get into trouble with the school for that!" Hara pursed her lips, clearly concerned for her former schoolmate.

"Would he care? Out of all of us, Nagisa was always the one with the most bl…" Itona glanced at the students, both of whom were listening very intently. "Learning passion."

"Um, I have a question." Watanabe raised his hand, like he was in a classroom. "There's an empty chair over there. Was someone not able to make it?" He pointed at an empty seat next to Itona.

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask that. Where the heck is Takebeyashi?" Terasaka looked at Muramatsu directly, expecting an answer.

Muramatsu scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "He couldn't make it today. They're about to finish some groundbreaking experiment today, so it'd look bad if the head researcher decided to take the day off for no good reason."

"Just pass it off to Okuda. It's not like we meet every week…" Itona crossed his arms, frowning at the chair as if it had personally offended him. 

"He really wanted to see that through first." Muramatsu shrugged, taking a sip of water. It wasn't as if he convinced Takebayashi to stay, after all. "To compensate, he's treating us all to Karaoke next weekend."

"Hell Yeah, Karaoke!" Terasaka pumped his fist in the air, a wild grin on his face. The grin wasn't shared by anybody else on the table, forebodingly enough.

Hazama winced. Turning to Itona, she began to dig through her purse. "You brought a spare set of earplugs?"

Itona tossed her a small package. "Fifth edition. These should cancel out even the worst caterwauling Terasaka can yell."

The name of Takebayashi hadn't gone past Watanabe unnoticed. His eyes going extremely wide, he stammered out his next words. "W-wait… By Takebayashi, do you mean… Kotaro Takebayashi?!"

"Yes, dear." Hara nodded, before catching his stunned reaction. With an embarrassed smile, she placed a palm onto her forehead. "Oh, my. We keep forgetting he's a famous scientist now."

"Yeah. Seems just like yesterday he was dragging us along to maid cafes, and there he is now, some hotshot scientist taking the world by storm." Yoshida began to grin nostalgically, but stopped when he saw the look on Watanabe's face. The nerd had stopped moving, his eyes opening as wide as dinner plates. Experimentally, he waved his arm in front of the kid. No response. "Hey, kid. You're looking really… Uh… Starstruck there. Don't worry, Mr. Government Agent here has a plan just for that."

"Hey! I was gonna save that for a cool moment!"

"Oh. Want to do the reveal now?"

"No point, it's all ruined now." 

"C'mon, tell us!" Yuki interjected, trying to wring the secret out.

Muramatsu shook his head. "No point in asking, that man's the most stubborn out of all of us. You two will find out soon enough, don't you worry."

* * *

Amidst the boisterous conversations, Yuki suddenly remembered her introverted companion. Turning her head, she saw him scribbling down words on his notepad. He seemed to be deeply concentrated on his task, his forehead wrinkling in concentration as he madly wrote down notes. Tapping him on the shoulder, Yuki called him back to attention. "Watanabe, what's up? You haven't spoken in a bit."

Startled out of his trance, Watanabe nearly dropped his pen again. “I’m just writing down everything they’re saying. Maybe it’ll come in handy soon?”

Silently, Yuki observed the members of End Class. They were talking in the way that long lost friends did, laughing at every story, grinning like they had never drifted apart.  _ Even the scary lady looks a little bit happier... _ Suddenly, she felt as if they were intruding on a private occasion, like gatecrashers at a birthday party. "Looks like they're just catching up now. I don't think we're gonna get anything more out of them…" Rapping her hand on the table, she got everyone's attention. "Hey, it's gonna be late soon, and we've got… Projects to do. We're gonna go now."

"Hm? Ok, then." Muramatsu nodded once, giving them permission to leave. "Good luck next week, OK? You're gonna need it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: The reason Yuki didn't remember Hazama or Itona's names was because they technically never introduced themselves as part of 3-E. (Itona makes one comment about being in an End Class, but 3-E wasn't the only End Class out there...) 
> 
> Anyways, this chapter marks the first quarter of the story done, and (almost) everyone in Group 3! As is tradition for my longer fics, I usually like to ask for advice and criticisms during these times. As I'm gonna start planning out the next section of the story, I'd like to hear what can be improved! (This also means I'm gonna take a break for a bit, and catch up on some lagging assignments IRL. Expect the next chapter in two weeks time, instead of the usual week.) (One other sidenote: I'm thinking of swapping the story description every time I finish a "quarter" of this story, so it fits the story better. I'm still undecided, so I'd like to hear your thoughts on this.)
> 
> Next up: We finally get to meet some of Nagisa's other students! (Hopefully...)


	10. Interlude 2: Homeroom

Staring up to the white ceiling, Watanabe was locked in a standstill, a picture frozen in time. Seconds ticked by, like droplets falling from a dripping ceiling. Homeroom had just begun, and with it came the weary exhaustion of 29 different classmates, all ready to finally leave their classrooms. Absentmindedly, Watanabe was counting the amount of dots on the ceiling, just to while the time away. He had just reached a new record of 358 when the door creaked open. Shiota-Sensei walked in, right on schedule. His footsteps were always the softest out of all of them, even when the room was completely quiet. "Good afternoon, class."

"Good afternoon, Shiota-Sensei…" The class chorused, with more sarcasm than respect. During the first month they had spent together, the class had gone from complete terror to an uneasy apprehension. After they had realized that Shiota-Sensei wasn't out to destroy them all, the class settled down into a fragile peace.

Unfazed, Shiota-Sensei took out a stack of papers from his briefcase. This kind of reception was nothing new to him, unfortunately. "Before you go home, I have an announcement to make. Recently, the government has implemented a program for all students to…"

"Just get on with it!" One of their more unruly classmates, Kenta, shouted from the backrow.

With a gentle smile, Shiota-Sensei shook his head. "Impatient as ever, I see. In short, there's going to be a field trip to one of the newest scientific museums in Japan on Monday. Attendance isn't required, but Misaki-Sensei did mention she would be giving bonus points in the next exam for those attending." Shiota-Sensei paused, looking around the room for a reaction. No response. " Also, there will also be a contest during the field trip. The top two students to win will get a chance to speak to the heads of the facility: Takebayashi Kotaro and Manami Okuda!"

"Huh." Yuki's head perked up slightly. She recognized one of those names. "Hey, Wata…" She frowned, watching Watanabe start digging through his backpack at a staggering pace. "What are you doing?"

"Studying! We've got to practice if we want to beat everyone else!" Tearing through the science textbooks like a man obsessed, Watanabe was flipping through the pages so fast that it was a wonder he was able to read anything. In a split-second, he glanced over at his friend. "Why aren't you studying?"

"Why bother?" Yuki kicked back, leaning heavily on her chair like she hadn't a care in the world. 

"What do you mean? If we don't study hard enough, we're going to be left behind!" Watanabe slammed down his textbook on the desk, to emphasize his point. This startled his other seatmate, who was coincidentally using his own test sheets as a drawing pad.

Experimentally, Yuki flipped open a textbook, just to appease him. Almost immediately, a great pressure overwhelmed her, knocking her out cold after one glance at the forbidden text's contents. "Can't do it. It's too strong…"

"You do this EVERY TIME there's a test!"

"Worth a shot." Getting back up, Yuki subtly shoved her textbook off the table. "You DO know you're the only one nerdy enough to actually care about this sort of thing, right?"

"No… That can't be right. Who would miss out on an opportunity like this?" Leaping up from his seat, Watanabe set off like a man on a mission. "I'm gonna ask everyone!"

"I'll join you." Yuki volunteered, eager for any excuse to avoid studying.

* * *

Their first target was Ota Kohako. One of the most dispirited people in the class, he would barely put any effort into anything. Teachers would often catch him dozing off during lessons, hiding behind a textbook. Other times, he would fall asleep right before a class started, snoring in a quiet corner of the library while class went on. Yuki couldn't blame him much; School was boring anyways.

Dozing off in a corner of the room, Kohako was blissfully unaware of the duo's approach. Ever so gently, Watanabe poked at his head with the corner of his textbook. No response came from him, save an intensified snoring. The last time he had fallen asleep like this, it was Shiota-Sensei who woke him up. Using some sort of weird clap, he managed to startle him awake in one move. Experimentally, Yuki positioned her hands, readying a clap of her own.

*CLAP*

No response. Giving up the fancy clapping technique, Yuki went for the usual strategy: Yelling really loud. "Hey, wake up, sleepyhead!" 

"Yeah, I'm up, I'm up. What's the big deal?" Wiping the sleep from his eyes, Kohako lifted his head off his desk. He stared at the both of them with mild annoyance, sluggishly moving his eyes to glance at each of them. "Class is over, man. What's going on?"

Watanabe spoke up, one arm clutching his textbook carefully. "We wanted to ask: Are you gonna join the contest?"

"Hm? Oh, right, the contest. Nah." His tone was similar to the look in his eyes, void of any energy. Dully, he lifted his head towards the science nerd. "You're entering yourself, right?"

"Yeah!" Watanabe perked up, clutching the textbook in his hands.

"Well, looks like you've got one less competitor to worry about." And with that final word, he went back to sleep.

* * *

Next up was Yamane Kyo. One of their most annoying classmates, he regarded the world as his own personal playground, a toy specifically built for him to play in. And what better game was there than a game of chance? He was a gambler, betting on anything and everything he could. Yuki knew it well: She had lost a bet with him during the first week alone. Flipping a coin in his hands, a gleam passed through Kyo's eyes as he caught sight of two new targets. "Hey, it's you two again. Back for another game?"

Yuki tensed up like a wary cat. "Tch, nah. I'm still making up all the money you stole."

"Hey, you lost it fair and square. I just collected my due." With his off hand, he wiped away a fake tear from his eye, in mock offense. "So, why are you two here? Can't imagine you enjoy my company very much…" His manic grin indicated that he felt quite the opposite, though.

"Um… We were wondering if you were going to enter the contest. The one to meet Takebayashi and Okuda?" Watanabe asked, his eyes following the coin as it constantly flipped in the air.

"Nope. It's bad manners to be tampering with the bets." Snatching the coin out of midair, Kyo stuffed it back into his pocket with a quick move. "Not that it's all that interesting when you already know who's going to win." He mentioned, casting a glance at Watanabe. His shifty eyes narrowed, just as his smirk widened. "Instead, why not bet on something more… interesting?"

Try as she might, Yuki couldn't suppress her intrigue well enough to stop herself. "What do you have in mind?"

The huckster jabbed a finger at their teacher. "Shiota-Sensei's hair. Do you think it's dyed, or natural?"

Yuki raised an eyebrow. "Well, obviously dyed. Nobody's born with blue hair."

Watanabe shook his head. "Actually, I've heard of naturally colored hair before. It's supposed to be a really rare genetic defect."

"See? Even the nerd thinks you're wrong." Kyo's grin was sharp, like a shark catching a scent of blood. "But if you're so sure, why not put your money where your mouth is and…"

Yuki aggressively slammed down a fistful of bills on the table. "500 yen, hair dye."

"Deal." Kyo pocketed the money, a sinister look in his eye. "I'll see if I can get someone to ask Shiota-Sensei soon enough. In the meanwhile, you sit tight."

"Wait, you don't know either?!"

"Why would I? The thrill's in the uncertainty. It's no fun betting on something I already know now, is there? Like the outcome of next week's contest." He tilted his head towards Watanabe, a slight frown playing on it. Suddenly, he began to walk off, heading towards the others in the class. "I'll be taking bets for the next few days. If you want to raise the stakes, you know where to find me."

Watching the gambler leave, only one thought came to Watanabe's mind. "Yuki… I think you got scammed."

"Shut up!"

* * *

Much to the science nerd's disappointment, their last two classmates proved to be the norm, rather than the exception. Every single one of their classmates expressed apathy, disgust, and even shock that there was someone who actually cared about entering. Finally, there was only one group left to ask: The unofficial gang, led by Yonamine Kenta. Self proclaimed "anarchists", all they ever talked about was their dream of a world without teachers. It was Kenta who riled up the class to try and beat up Shiota-Sensei. Yuki had to admit: His bold speech that day was convincing. His unconscious body slumping on a chair was less so.

"Tch. Us, going on that dorky bus trip to some lame science place? Yeah, right!" Crossing his arms, Kenta wore a fearsome scowl matched only by his glowering compatriot. Both he and his lackey wore matching frowns, in what was probably an attempt to intimidate then. "In fact, here's what we think of that!" He dramatically tore his permission slip in half, tossing away the scraps as if they were garbage.

"Yeah, boss, you're so cool!" Yuichi cheered, with a wicked lopsided grin. "Ain't nobody gonna boss us aroun…" His face suddenly turned a sickly pale, cold sweat running down his forehead. Yuki and Watanabe also sported similar expressions of terror.

"Haha, that's righ…" Kenta's voice died out slowly. "He's right behind me, isn't he?"

A cold touch fell upon his shoulder. Turning around slowly, the delinquent was confronted with icy-blue eyes. A hand reached out, slips of paper attached to it. "Here, additional copies of permission slips, for all of you. If you don't return this on the day of the trip, I'll assume you destroyed these as well." Gently placing each of the new slips into their stunned hands, the teacher kept his inscrutably serene smile. "Call time is 9:00 AM. Don't be late!" And, just as swiftly as he had arrived, Shiota-Sensei swept past them like a winter's breeze.

"Yeah…" His ego deflated by a quick pierce, the leader did his best to salvage his reputation. "On second thought, you think I'm gonna be intimidated by some lame-o science building? Nah! We're gonna walk up straight into it and show all those nerds who's really the boss!"

"Yeah! You go, boss!" Yuichi laughed nervously, wiping the cold sweat off his forehead. 

"Sure. You two have fun with that." Unable to take any more posturing, Yuki walked off, shaking her head disapprovingly. "Can't believe that's the same guy who riled up half the class to beat up Shiota-Sensei…"

"I can!" Watanabe mentioned. "He seems very charismatic!"

"I guess." Yuki was unconvinced. "Once Shiota-Sensei knocked him out, nobody's really been listening to him anymore… Well, nobody except those two. Honestly, it seems like Yuichi calls him boss just to make him feel better."

"Oh, that reminds me. Did you also go and try to beat up Shiota-Sensei?"

The delinquent flinched. "Um… Er… You see…" Just in the nick of time, though, the school bell began to ring. "Hey, look at that! We're free now, we'd better go home!"

"But we need to-"

"HOME!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A non-ship fic on Valentines? Is this even legal? Truth be told, I didn't mean to delay this long, but a bunch of things really got in the way for a long while. (Among other things, the death of a family pet, finals week, and general exhaustion...) 
> 
> But I'm sure you're not here to hear about all that, let's talk about the chapter! It's another interlude again, this time focusing on Nagisa's students. In order to keep to the canon, most of them aren't fans of either Nagisa or Studying in general. Who knows, maybe time will change that? 
> 
> Some fun facts about the new side characters (who definitely aren't gonna be relevant later on or anything) : 
> 
> This is technically not Kohako's debut chapter. He gets a brief mention in Interlude 1, about one line's worth.
> 
> Originally, Yuki and Kyo were going to be OCs participating in the classic "new kids join the E-Class" plot. Eventually, I decided to transfer both of them to this story instead, since I didn't just want to retread the same plot again. Watanabe was also a solo protagonist until then.
> 
> Kenta was my take on the delinquent student who threatened Nagisa on his first day as a teacher. He represents the canon version of Nagisa's class, who were pretty much all thugs. 
> 
> Next time: What happened on Doomsday? The science behind the tentacles!


	11. Museum Time! Momentous Meetings inside the Monuments!

The sky was a vibrant blue in the sky when they finally arrived. Outside the bus' windows, the scrolling scenery slowly stalled, stopping in front of a strangely designed structure. Compared to all the square, orderly buildings around them, the museum immediately caught their eye for it's decorative design. The structure was a grand, stately building, with tall pillars and curved arches. Flowers were being grown on it's front, mostly tulips.

Stretching her arms, Yuki looked back towards the bus. A lot more of her classmates had actually bothered passing their permission slips than she would have expected. Off the top of her head, she guessed that maybe 75% of the class had arrived, perhaps 80%. Yuki pursed her lips in annoyance. More classmates arriving meant more competition for the contest's second slot. While Watanabe was probably secure, she had forgotten that she needed to win a slot of her own against everyone in the tour.

A loud clap woke her out of her thoughts. "Attention, Class!" At the front of the bus, blocking off the exit, Shiota-Sensei called them all to attention. "As soon as we enter the museum, I will need to leave to register all of you for the tour. As soon as I register, a tour guide will begin to take you on the tour immediately. In order to not delay anything, I will meet up with you all again in the middle of the tour." Raising a finger, he motioned for everyone to stay still a second longer. "One last thing. There are security guards blocking all entrances and exits for the museum. This is to prevent anyone from sneaking in… or out." His eyes narrowed at his unruly class, but his smile still remained as unreadable as ever. "We'll see each other back inside.”

* * *

The entrance to the scientific museum itself was vast, being both a grand opening to the tour and a lobby built to accommodate hundreds of guests. The floor was made of black polished granite, twinkling like the stars in the infinite galaxy. Screens shone from the walls, playing advertisement clips for the museum itself.  All in all, it was a grand opening to the wonders of science. Standing in the midst of it all was a tour guide, dressed in a suit and tie. "Hello, and welcome to the Kunugigaoka Museum of Science and Technology! My name is Miss Ai, and I will be your tour guide for today!" She smiled brightly, trying to hype up her disinterested crowd. "If you're excited to be a part of this tour, clap your hands!"

The room was filled with the amazing sound of complete and utter silence.

"Ha ha…" The tour guide laughed awkwardly, beads of nervous sweat beginning to form on her head. "Well, I'm sure those attitudes will change!" Taking a quick look through her notes, she looked at the unruly group of students. "You're all a part of Shiota's class, yes?"

"Yes, Ma'am!" Watanabe perked up. He was the only one to actually respond.

Relieved to see that there was at least one excited student, the tour guide wiped the sweat off her forehead. "Well, it looks like someone's excited!" Waving a hand, she beckoned everyone to follow behind her. "Follow me, and let the tour commence!"

* * *

Their tour began at an amiable pace, as they wandered around hallways filled with portraits of important scientific figures. Stifling a yawn, Yuki let the tour guide's words flow right past her, not bothering to catch the multitudes of information being thrown her way. Despite what was at risk, she was still finding it very hard to care for boring pictures of smart people on the wall. 

Finally, their tour group stopped near the threshold of a large room. The room was dim, the spotlights illuminating only illuminating the exhibits themselves. Neon lights lit up the edges of the pathway, giving the room an ambiance similar to a movie theater. Smiling, the tour guide stepped to the side, allowing them to enter the room."Within the institute, we believe in a hands-on method of discovery for all! Please, feel free to view all the exhibits!"

At the sound of those words, the class immediately dispersed into the room. Despite their initial lack of interest, they were still children in a room filled with shiny new things. Watanabe was no exception, immediately checking out the first exhibit he could. Yuki followed behind at a slower pace.

Watanabe halted in front of a small glass case, holding a mechanical arm, as well as a strange looking device next to it. It looked like a cross between a neck pillow and a headphone, the inner side of it glistening with an unusual black glass. Beside it was a poster of the nervous system. Small lightbulbs lit the pathway from the brain down to the spinal cord, then throughout the entire body. A small screen with two pairs of earphones attached was left on the bottom.  Curiously, Watanabe took up the first set of earphones, then gestured to Yuki to put on the second set. As soon as she put hers on, Watanabe pressed a small button on the video player. Almost immediately, the screen came to life. The science museum's logo flickered on, followed by a short melody. 

_ “Robotic limbs? Originally something only seen in science fiction, we may soon be seeing these mechanical appendages in real life!” The screen cut to a one-armed man, a new mechanical arm attached to the stump of his old one. A strange device seemed to be pressed into his neck, with wires travelling from the neck to the arm. The man seemed to be controlling this arm, but there was no visible indication of a remote or other forms of input. _

_ The scene cut to a tall man, dressed in a labcoat and glasses. "Essentially, it works by reading signals from the spinal cord, much like how normal brain signals are transmitted. This allows you to control the extension just as well as your arm or leg!" _

_ "And where did you get this ingenious design idea from?" _

_ "Middle school. An old friend from middle school was the inspiration for the design." _

_ "I see. In what ways do you think this new invention could be used?" _

_ "It's a rudimentary design so far, so there's no practical application just yet. But with more time, we may be seeing the future for prosthetics.” _

The video shut off on it's own. Taking off their earphones, they hung them back on the video player's hooks. Staring into the glass case, Yuki began tapping on it like it would come to life. Suddenly, a brilliant idea came to life. "Hey, Watanabe. If I had both my limbs and put on two of these things, could I run around with four limbs?"

Watanabe scratched his head in confusion. "Um… Maybe? There's probably a lot of science involved that I don't know about…" He stared at the mechanical arm intensely, as if he could understand it's working simply through his glare. 

Watching him stare was rather boring. Tapping his shoulder, Yuki pointed at the multitude of other exhibits they could look at instead. Within the next case was an enlarged replica of a blood cell, cut in half to reveal it's inner workings. Another video screen was placed beside it. Putting on the earphones, both students watched as the screen flickered to life.

_ "Recently, a new surge of news has been making waves all across the scientific community! Until just recently, limitations between blood types have caused many deaths all across the world. However, with the development of a new type of artificial blood, this may become a thing of the past!” The reporter pointed her microphone at the interviewee. “Could you tell us how exactly this new artificial blood works?” _

_ The interviewee was a young woman this time, wearing a clean lab coat and glasses as well. Her hair was tied into twintail braids. "By inserting trace amounts of an experimental mutagen, we were able to sedate any malignant white blood cells, slowly acclimating the body to the new infusion of blood.” _

_ “Oh, um…. Yes.” The reporter nodded once. “What are the potential implications of this new artificial blood?” _

_ “It could be a lifesaver! Having readily available blood donors could mean the difference between life and death! If we can develop a blood type that can be accepted by all patients, we could save hundreds of lives!” _

_ “If I may ask, what made you pursue this field?” _

_ “Um…. I’ve always been fascinated by Chemistry before. But it was in middle school when I decided to become a doctor as well. During the end of the school year, a friend of mine was gravely injured. While we were all stunned, our teacher staunched her injuries, saving her life. Ever since then, I decided to save others as well." _

_ “You heard it here first, folks! Stay tuned for more details!” _

Watanabe raised his eyebrow. “Miss Okuda mentioned an injured classmate. Do you think it has anything to do with the End Class?” Frowning, he began to recall everyone she had met before.  _ If it was a serious injury, odds are, it would have made some lasting mark. Maybe a limp or a scar? _ But no, nobody they met seemed to show any signs of injury. Thoughtfully, he scribbled down the idea on his notepad.

Yuki shook her head. "Just cause they said middle school doesn't mean it's got to do with the End Class. Besides, nobody else ever mentioned it, right?”

“Just because they didn’t mention it doesn’t mean it never happened. Maybe they don’t want to talk about it, or maybe they just forgot.” Closing his eyes, the detective let out a sigh of disappointment. “Still, I guess you’re probably right.”

Slapping him on the back, Yuki tried to cheer him up. "Hey, cheer up! Not all your guesses have to be 100% accurate all the time, you know?"

"I guess you're right." Perking up, Watanabe began to look around for other exhibits to look at. "What’s in the next room?” 

* * *

They were standing in a blindingly white room, like the hull of a spaceship. Posters and strange mechanical devices lined the walls, as well as more pictures of important people. A large portion of the room was walled off with fiberglass, with racks of guns and white pellets littered about inside. In the center of the room, an orange dome of light with a hexagonal pattern shone dully on it's raised pedestal. 

Shielding her eyes from the glare, Yuki blinked owlishly, adjusting to the flaring lights. The feeling was comparable to walking out of a dark cavern in broad daylight. Slowly, her eyes adjusted to the sudden shift in light.

In the time that it took her to adjust, though, Watanabe had already begun moving towards the exhibits. Despite her eyes, Yuki did her best to follow. The science nerd was immediately drawn to the glowing orange dome. Running up, he immediately read the label on the side of the platform. Written on a bright metal plate was a small description:

_ Earth's Shield _

_ Created during 2015 as an international project against the superbeing, Earth's Shield is an advanced application of projected light technology, as well as antimatter destruction sciences. The "wall" is essentially light particles, vibrating at a specific frequency in order to disrupt any antimatter based construct, but let basic matter through. Try moving your hand in it! _

Curiously, he stuck his hand through the orange wall. It made no resistance whatsoever, but felt slightly warm to the touch. It was as if he had placed his hand under lamplight. Curiously, he waved his arm around inside it. "It feels just like regular light. Would this really stop an antimatter being?"

"Of course it would." A familiar voice spoke out from behind them.

"Shiota-Sensei!" They whirled around, seeing their teacher behind them. 

Their teacher stood behind them, a faint smile lingering on his face. "Sorry for my absence. Registering tickets took longer than expected." Cautiously, he experimentally pushed his hand into the barrier. "Touching the barrier would actually dissolve any antimatter cells, rendering them inert. Have you seen ice-cream melt in the sun? It's something like that."

Yuki frowned, looking up at her teacher.  _ He sounded like he was speaking from experience…  _ "Wait… How do you know that?"

"Oh. I saw it on the news, when I was your age." He smiled, yet it felt like the peace usually behind his expression was fading. "I remember… a lot about the doomsday week. If you have any questions, you know who to ask." 

"Uh… Okay then." Unsure of how to respond, Yuki just nodded, accepting the offer. A desire to escape this awkward situation was growing inside her. "C'mon, let's check out the shooting range."

"Ok, then." Watanabe took the hint this time, leaving Shiota-Sensei behind to reminisce.

* * *

The shooting range was placed within a corner of the room, fenced off with fiberglass to prevent any shots from disturbing the rest of the exhibits. Inside it, several types of plastic guns and knives hung from a nearby rack, as well as a few canisters of weird pellet ammunition. A target was placed on the far end of the wall, with a sloped floor to roll the pellets back to their owner after testing the weapons.

They weren't the first ones to arrive here. Kenta, Yuichi, and Kohako were already inside, arguing over something. "Which one of these is cooler?"

"Well, it's obvious, isn't it? The bigger the gun, the cooler you look!" Yuichi picked up a bulky looking assault rifle, fumbling with it's many parts. With some difficulty, he aimed it towards the target.

"Nah. All the cool action heroes use pistols!" Kenta posed with his pistol, showing a blatant disregard towards gun safety. Cockily, he fumbled a shot off at the target. The pellet went wide, not even hitting the outer rim of the mark.

"Does it really matter? These aren't real, anyways." Kohako picked up a knife off the rack, bending it in two experimentally. As soon as he released it, it bounced back into shape like a spring.

"Of course it matters! How else are you supposed to look cool if you don't have a cool weapon?" Kenta flipped the plastic gun into the air, then caught it by the barrel instead of the grip. Yuki was silently sniggering to herself when the door opened. Shiota-Sensei entered, looking at each of them in turn. The calmness in his steps had returned.

Kenta huffed, carelessly dropping his pistol back onto the weapons rack. "Tch. If even we can't shoot these things well, there's no way you're gonna be able to do it."

Ignoring the taunt, Shiota-Sensei immediately went over to the weapons rack. "An old teacher of mine once taught me how to use guns… I wonder if I still know how?" Picking up a pistol, his fingers automatically curled around it's grip with the efficiency of one trained. Carefully, he fired a shot off into the target. It bounced off the target, very closely to the center. He had missed his mark by just a centimeter. "It looks like I haven't forgotten just yet!"

"H-how…?" Kenta gaped. Yuichi and Kohako sported similar expressions of shock.

"Would you like to learn?" Casually picking up the pellets, Shiota-Sensei reloaded his pistol. "I can teach you, if you want."

"Yes!" Kenta immediately accepted. Upon remembering that there were people watching him, he coughed, trying to act more aloof. "I mean… Yeah, sure. Guess it wouldn't hurt."

Slowly pushing open the fiberglass door, Yuki motioned for both of them to make a stealthy exit. "Let's… Just leave them to that. What else is there to look at?" Casting her vision across the room, Yuki looked for something to pique her interest. There was only one section left they hadn't looked at.

* * *

Of all the exhibits they had seen, this was definitely the least interesting of the bunch. Consisting mostly of old men's portraits and labels, there was a reason why they had left this one for last. Skipping past all the boring photos, there was one special one that caught her eye. "Check this out." Yuki pointed at a picture plastered onto the wall. At first glance, it seemed like a generic photo of a class batch. It was a picture of twenty-seven different children, standing next to a stern looking teacher. Their faces were slightly blurred, but Yuki could still tell that they were probably around her age. The caption beneath read: 

_ The Students _

_ Ordinary Boys and Girls, these students spent a year under the superbeing's control. Initially thought to be victims of mind control, it was later discovered that they were secretly gathering information on how to eliminate the threat on their own. In the end, it was their efforts that trapped the superbeing, leading to its destruction. _

"So… It was these kids who eventually destroyed the superbeing?" Yuki frowned in disbelief. "Seems pretty hard to believe…"

"That's what the caption says…" Thoughtfully, Watanabe stared at the blurred picture. "They seem about our age. Do you think we could have saved the world, if we replaced them?"

Yuki stifled a sardonic laugh. "Pfft, nah. Have you SEEN our class? One look at Kenta and that thing would have blown the earth to smithereens."

"I guess…" Watanabe peered even closer, trying to make out any facial features from the photo. No luck. "Those people must have been the best students in their school. I wonder where they are now?"

"Probably rich and famous." Yuki shrugged. 

Watanabe let out a small breath. The scale of the operation was slowly beginning to dawn on him. Doomsday, once a nightmare lost to time, was revealed to him once more. "Doomsday… Yuki, how old were you when this all happened?"

"Nine." Stuffing her hands into her pockets, Yuki cast her eyes downwards onto the polished floor.

"I was eight." Watanabe asked, his voice questioning. "Doesn't it feel funny? We could have died back then."

*I guess…" Yuki shivered at the thought. "No use thinking about what could've been. In the end, they got the job done, didn't they?" 

* * *

Bonus:

_ Earlier that day... _

Taking off his hat, Shiota-Sensei, known to his friends as Nagisa, gently took a seat inside the employee's lounge. He had already registered the class for the tour earlier this morning, as a requirement from the government. Leaving a poor tour guide as fodder for his class wasn't ideal, but there was something he needed to attend to.

"Are you sure it's all right to leave them be for now?" Nagisa asked, looking curiously at his former schoolmates. "I thought that maybe you two would introduce yourselves at the beginning of the tour."

"It's fine. We don't usually make guest appearances anyways." A tall scientist, Kotaro Takebayashi, stood near the coffee maker, filling up two extra cups of coffee. "I really don't agree with the misinformation, but we don't have a say in the matter. Getting a large section of the museum dedicated to him was difficult enough…"

"Don't worry, Nagisa! Miss Ai's quite good with tours like these…" The woman with the braided hair, Manami Okuda, answered. "So, how are you, Nagisa? Akari and Karma have both told me so much, but I never thought I'd get the chance to ask you directly!"

"You still talk to each other?" Nagisa asked, mildly surprised.

"Of course! They're my friends, aren't they?" She said it with a matter of fact tone, as if it were an unchanging law of nature. "How about you? Do you still talk to Sugino? Or Akari?"

"Ah… Um… I've been pretty busy at work…" Nagisa scratched his head awkwardly. "I did talk to Karma last month, right before my first day as a teacher."

"A-a whole month?!"

"Maybe now would be a good time to reconnect?" Offering Nagisa a spare mug, Takebayashi sat on the opposite side of him. "This whole idea wasn't coincidence. The program was actually set into motion by Terasaka." 

"Terasaka? I guess that would explain the sudden government initiative. But how exactly did a junior like him convince the government officials?"

"He didn't, from what I understand. He just mentioned the idea to his boss, who thought it would be a good idea. Public relations or something, it's hard to keep track of government dealings." Waving his hand dismissively, Takebayashi took a sip of the cup. "That's enough about our work. How are your students doing?"

"All right, I suppose." Nagisa brightened up, excitement filling his features. "Some of them actually remind me of our old classmates!"

Okuda perked up. "Really? Who?"

"Well, there's a tough guy named Kenta who reminds me of Terasaka, down to his attitude. There's also a sports player who reminds me of Okano, and a stoic person that acts like Itona!" Nagisa's eyes widened, like he had remembered something. "That reminds me! There's also someone in my class who's interested in science, like you two."

"They seem fascinating. I'm glad we get to meet them in person soon."

"If only they were as glad to meet you…" Nagisa sighed, downing his own cup of coffee. 

Okuda gently pat his back. "Don't be too upset, Nagisa. Human relationships take time to develop. Our situation was just… Unusual."

Checking his watch, Takebayashi stood up. "Looks like we're due soon. We'll see each other afterwards, yes?"

"I'll head back to my class now. I'll see you two soon!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's a pretty long chapter, isn't it? I didn't expect it to go on this long, but I guess I got a bit carried away. Anyways, much like Terasaka's spotlight chapter(s), this one's going to be a two parter! (Unfortunately, I'm not uploading the 2nd part tomorrow like Terasaka's chapters. Mostly because I haven't written it yet.)
> 
> Fun fact: All of the exhibits in the museum were based off sciences seen in the show! The controllable limbs were based off the tentacles, which worked similarly to extra limbs anyways. The new artificial blood was mentioned during Okuda and Takebayashi's epilogue scene, and I'm sure you all remember the giant light dome in the finale.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey... It's, uh, been a month-ish, huh? Sorry for the absence. We got power outages, storms, midterm exams, and laziness all coming together to delay this pretty badly. (Plus, like, four different fanfic ideas before finally giving up and finishing this one.)
> 
> So, anyways, onto the OCs: Satoshi Watanabe and Tsuji Yuki. I'd introduce them to you all, but I want to make sure you get to know them through the story first. I'm kind of nervous about this one, because I know OC stories are difficult to write without turning them into Mary Sues. I hope I can do a decent job at preventing that. (Watanabe has actually gotten a mention in a story I've done here before, so if you want to search for him, you can!)
> 
> The story is going to mainly focus on the original AC characters, though. The plan's to get them to meet the entirely of the original 3-E class, with a few special additions, hopefully. This way, we'll get to see most of 3-E's lives after Kunugigaoka in more detail! Yoshida was the 1st, though I wouldn't count him fully out just yet... There's a hint for the next classmate we're going to visit in this chapter. Can you find it?


End file.
